The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles.Armitage, Ella Sophia
History
The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles.
Armitage, Ella Sophia
Architecture, Norman; Castles -- Great Britain -- History -- To 1500; Normans -- Great Britain
The castles, which according to Robert de Monte, Henry I. built
altogether [_ex integro_] were Drincourt, Chateauneuf-sur-Epte,
Verneuil, Nonancourt, Bonmoulins, Colmemont, Pontorson, St
Denis-en-Lyons, and Vaudreuil. Many of these may have been wooden
castles; Chateauneuf-sur-Epte almost certainly was; it has now a
_round_ donjon on a motte. The "Tour Grise" at Verneuil is certainly
not the work of Henry I., but belongs to the 13th century.
APPENDIX R
THE SO-CALLED SHELL KEEP
We have three accounts of motte-castles from the 12th century: that
of Alexander Neckham, in the treatise _De Utensilibus_; that of
Laurence of Durham, cited in Chapter VII., p. 147; and the well-known
description of the castle of Marchem, also cited in Chapter VI., p.
88. All these three describe the top of the motte as surrounded by a
wall (of course of wood), within which is built a wooden tower. The
account of Marchem says that it was built in the middle of the area.
This supports the conjecture in the text. Mr H. E. Malden has shown
(_Surrey Archæolog. Collections_, xvi., 28) that the keep of Guildford
is of later date than the stone wall round the top of the motte. Remove
this tower, and there would be what is commonly called a shell keep. It
would appear, therefore, that it was a common practice to change the
bank or stockade round the top of the motte into a stone wall (no doubt
as a defence against fire), leaving the keep inside still of wood. Four
of the pictures from the Bayeux Tapestry (see Frontispiece) all give
the idea of a wooden tower inside a stockade on a motte.
APPENDIX S
PROFESSOR LLOYD'S "HISTORY OF WALES"
I regret that this valuable work did not appear until too late for me
to make use of it in my chapter on Welsh Castles. It is worth while to
note the following points in which Professor Lloyd's conclusions differ
from or confirm those which I have been led to adopt.
Aberystwyth and Aberrheiddiol.--"After the destruction of the last
Aberystwyth Castle of the older situation in 1143, the chief
stronghold of the district was moved to the mouth of the Rheiddiol,
a position which it ever afterwards retained, though people still
insisted on calling it Aberystwyth" (514). "The original castle of
Aberystwyth crowned the slight eminence at the back of the farm of Tan
y Castell, which lies in the Ystwyth valley 1-1/2 miles S. of the town.
There is the further evidence of the name, and the earthworks still
visible on the summit" (426, _note_).
Carreghova.--I ought perhaps to have included this castle in my list,
though on the actual map its site is within the English border; but as
there are absolutely no remains of it [D. H. M.] it does not affect the
question I am discussing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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