The castles and abbeys of England; Vol. 1 of 2: from the national records, early chronicles, and other standard authorsBeattie, William
History
The castles and abbeys of England; Vol. 1 of 2: from the national records, early chronicles, and other standard authors
Beattie, William
Abbeys -- England; Castles -- England
conflict with the waves. The castle at this time was under the command
of Sir George Carey, “captain” or “governor” of the island,--whose
<g>Residence</g>, with the barracks adjoining, forms a prominent feature in the
castle. But in the absence of military events, the following anecdote,
in proof of the peace and harmony which prevailed among the inhabitants
at that time, occurs in the Memoirs of Sir John Oglander: “I have
heard,” says he, “and partly know it to be true, that not only
heretofore there was no lawyer or attorney in our island; but that, in
Sir George Carey’s time, an attorney coming to settle in the island, he
was, with a pound of candles dangling at his heels, lighted, with bells
about his legs, and hunted out of the island; insomuch as our ancestors
lived here so quietly and securely, being neither troubled to go to
London nor Winchester, so they seldom or never went out of the
island--insomuch that when they went to London, thinking it an East
India voyage, they always made their wills.”--We now return to a survey
of
<g>The Castle</g>--which has undergone little or no alteration since the above
period--and gladly avail ourselves of Sir Richard Worsley’s authority as
the ground-work of the short sketch which follows. Considering that the
principal difference between a Saxon and Norman castle consisted in the
former having built one regular entire fortification round, or as nearly
so as the nature of the ground would admit; while the latter built
theirs in two distinct fortifications--the keep, and the base-court; it
has been concluded by Strutt and others, that the keep of Carisbrooke
Castle is entirely of ancient British or Saxon workmanship, and that the
base-court was added by the Normans. Of the original Saxon fortress,
rebuilt by Fitz-Osborne, the walls enclose about an acre and a half, and
in figure are nearly a rectangular parallelogram, having the angles
rounded. The greatest space is from east to west. The old or Norman
Castle is surrounded by a more modern fortification, faced with stone,
of an irregular pentagonal form, defended by five bastions. These
outworks, which are in circuit about three quarters of a mile and
surrounded by a deep ditch, circumscribe in the whole about twenty
acres. They were added in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and constructed
by the Italian engineer Genebella, on the same plan as those of Antwerp.
The work was undertaken at the representation of the governor, Sir
George Carey, when the country was menaced by the Spanish Armada. In aid
of the expenses, Queen Elizabeth gave four thousand pounds; the
gentlemen of the island gave four hundred more, and the commonalty
contributed their personal labour by digging the outward ditch gratis.
For the following particulars the reader is referred to the Ground Plan
at the close of the present subject.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account