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
Taking these things together, we venture to assume that the inner court
in which the keep of Dover stands, represents an original motte, or at
any rate an original citadel, added to the castle by William I. Whether
what now remains of this motte is in part artificial, we do not pretend
to say; it may be that it was formed simply by digging a deep ditch
round the highest knoll of ground within the ancient ramparts.[403]
Anyhow, it is still in effect a motte, and a large one, containing not
only the magnificent keep, but a small ward as well. That this keep was
the work of Henry II. there can be no manner of doubt; the _Pipe Rolls_
show that he spent more than £2000 on the _turris_ or keep of Dover
Castle between the years 1181 and 1187, and Benedict of Peterborough
mentions the building of the keep at this date.[404] The curtain around
the motte may also be reckoned to be his work originally, as the
_cingulum_ is spoken of along with the _turris_ in the accounts. Modern
alterations have left little of Norman character in this curtain which
shows at a glance, and the gateways (one of which remains) belong to a
later period.
Attached to this keep ward is another ward, whose rampart is generally
attributed to Saxon times. We are not in a position positively to
deny that the Saxons had an inner earthwork on the highest part of
the ground within their _burh_. But considering that small citadels
are unusual in Saxon earthworks: considering also that this bailey is
attached to the motte in the usual manner of a Norman bailey, and that
its size corresponds to the usual size of an original Norman bailey in
an important place, it does not seem unreasonable to suppose that this
was the original bailey attached to the Conqueror's motte. Its shape
is singular, part of it being nearly square, while at the S.E. corner
a large oval loop is thrown out, so as to enclose the Roman Pharos and
the Saxon church. The outline of the bailey certainly suggests that it
was built after the Pharos and the church, and was built with reference
primarily to the keep or motte ward. The nature of the ground, and
the necessity of enclosing the church and the Roman tower within
the immediate bailey of the castle, which would otherwise have been
commanded by them, were the other factors which decided the unusual
shape of the bailey.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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