13 



There is no doubt from these and other entries that 

 ^thelfleda erected a fortification at Warwick, but whether 

 of earth, stone, or wood, we can only surmise. The word 

 "ge-timbrob" may mean any or all of these, but that it signifies 

 that ^thelfleda found the site of Warwick adapted to her 

 military wants, and was the originator of Warwick as a 

 settlement, beorgh, or town is open to grave doubt. The 

 evidence is strong against the presumption. In the Bayeux 

 tapestry and in some contemporary illuminated MSS. we 

 have a representation of an Anglo Saxon fortification, and in 

 no instance do we find a "castle" in the Norman or modern 

 sense of the term. We have a rampart or vaUum — a ditch 

 or fosse, a mound beyond, and frequently a foundation of 

 rubble stone work, surmounted by a bratticed rampart of 

 timber. A narrow causeway connected the fortress with the 

 bailey, only permitting one person at a time to pass, so that 

 it could be easily defended. We have an instance of this 

 at Tamworth, remaining to our own day. Those earth- 

 works which have been modified or used by the Saxons show 

 a mound with earthen ramparts, forming two courts or baileys; 

 and, in fact, were the crude idea of the subsequent 

 Norman castle. The size and dimensions of Ethelfleda's 

 fortifications we may sometime know, but at present we 

 can only judge from analogy. Florence of Worcester 

 (circa 1110), Henry of Huntingdon (circa 1135), followthe 

 Saxon Chronicle in their notice of the founding of 

 Warwick. Rous (page 97) states under date 915, "His, 

 Edward's sister Elfleda, the wife of Ethelred, the under- 

 king of the Mercians, at the end of the autumn in the 

 year of our Lord 915, built at Warwick the fortifications 

 against the Danes; and these to our time, is called Le 

 Dongeon^ on the hill artificially made. She made a very 



