«Micence to Crenellate.” 
(Communicated by the Rev. HE. Pravock.) 
=O CRENELLATE” means to place a building or town 
% ay in a state of defence. This Norman word, still in use in 
France, signifies in its correct sense, “ to indent” ; and the word, as 
used in heraldry, seems synonymous with “ embattle.” 
With regard to buildings, the crenellation was the placing 
battlements upon the walls, and hence became used in the general 
sense of fortifying. 
Probably, after the Conquest no subject was allowed to place his 
residence in a state to withstand attack, unless he previously obtained 
permission from the Sovereign to do so. From the year 1255, this 
was certainly the case, as the records of licences to crenellate are, 
- from that date, still in existence. A complete list of the licenses to 
crenellate was given in the Gentleman’s Magazine in the year 1856, 
extracted from the Rolls, under the direction of Mr. Duffus Hardy. 
It may interest the readers of the Wiltshire Magazine, if the 
licences to crenellate houses or places in Wiltshire, be extracted 
from this list, and placed before them. 
These licences are of value, as they show who were the owners of 
the properties at the date at which they were granted, and in some 
eases the date at which a house was built, but not always, as the 
disturbed state of the country, or some other cause, may have induced 
_ owners to apply for a licence to place in a state of defence a house, 
which may have been built many years previously. 
The record of licenses granted extends over two hundred and 
twenty-eight years, commencing with the reign of King Henry III., 
in the year 1255. 
The first licence to a Wiltshire landowner, dated the fourth year 
of Edward II. (A.D. 1811), is to Nicholas de St. Maur, to fortify 
