138 peverel's castle in the peak. 



open court, walled and towered at the comers, and having its 

 hall, its chapel, and its living rooms built within the walls. 

 From this period the English castles became stately residences 

 requiring a considerable garrison, and could only be maintained 

 at vast expense. The small area which was available around 

 the Norman keep of the Peak Castle was insufficient for the 

 erection of such extensive buildings, sO' it was abandoned for 

 more ample localities. Alnwick, Ludlow, Warwick, and many 

 other stately fortresses, all date from this period. 



The hunting-box of the Plantagenet Kings, the watch-tower 

 of Edward the Elder, the stronghold of the Peverels, was 

 degraded into a casual prison for the victims of local tyranny, 

 until, in more civilized times, it fell into decay and became a 

 mere quarry of stone open to the depredations of unscrupulous 

 builders. 



The present aspect of the oW keep shows unmistakably 

 how early was its abandonment as a place of residence. There 

 seems to have been no attempt made to alter or enlarge the 

 building to suit more modern requirements, so it has escaped 

 the fate which overtook Guildford, Rochester, and many other 

 Norman donjons. Except for the ruthless spoliation of its 

 venerable walls in the eighteenth century, we possess the shell 

 of a perfect Norman keep as it left its builders' hands in the 

 twelfth century. The turrets and battlements have disappeared, 

 the wooden floors and roof have, of course, decayed, and two 

 sides of the building have been stripped of their ashlar facings. 

 I have been told on good authority that the stone facing from 

 the castle was used by a local functionary to build himself 

 a new house at Castleton. 



The remains of the castle still left to us are, without doubt, 

 of Norman work. Mr. King was of opinion that the keep 

 was built during the Saxon Heptarchy; but although several 

 antiquaries have dogmatized from the existence of some herring- 

 bone work in the base of the keep and in the walls enclosing 

 the Castle area that a Saxon stone fortress formerly stood on 

 the spot, there can be no doubt that the keep as it stands 

 is entirely Norman work. 



