142 
and there is also a spring of water. Some remains might be found 
were the ground cleared, though probably they would only be of 
granaries and guard-rooms, as the more important residences must have 
been on the lower plateau. The fortifications were necessary round 
the upper plateau, as the cliffs are everywhere quite perpendicular, and 
in places even overhanging. The commanding position of the fortress, 
the grandeur of the view, and the historical associations surrounding it, 
cannot fail to impress the mind with a feeling of pleasure at seeing a 
spot where the past is brought so much nearer to us, and of awe at the 
transitory nature of everything human. On the northern side of the 
fortress is a small sandy cove, and a crane for hauling up boats, as it is 
only at low water that the sand is visible. At high water the cove 
becomes open sea. The foundations of what is supposed to have been 
a drawbridge are shown. This is said to have joined the fortress to the 
mainland, but this is of course a fable, a drawbridge being quite un- 
necessary, and it would only have been a source of weakness. On the 
neck of the promontory towards the downs, after it has risen almost to 
the level of the fortress, there are remains of buildings supposed to have 
been included in the fortress. They were probably outworks and the 
residences of the nobles or knights attending the Court. In the same 
way the Gothic archway at the Vicarage of Travenna and the rectan- 
gular fishponds there are said to have been included in the fort. They 
are more than one mile distant and have nothing to do with it, and 
may have belonged to some convent or monastery in after times. 
Tintagel Castle was not abandoned on King Arthur’s death, but appears 
to have been regularly used at least up to the time of Richard IL., as 
the Earl of Warwick was imprisoned there for two years. How much 
longer it was used, or when abandoned, does not appear. 
With the return of the Field Club from Tintagel, the excursion which 
had been amost delightful one to all who joined it, closed, and the 
members returned to Bath. 
