PRISONERS AT PORTCHESTER 203 



the keep, many a political prisoner lay in darkness 

 and despair, and not a few executions took place on 

 the green outside. But after the days of Queen 

 Elizabeth the castle, being no longer required as a 

 military fortress, passed into the hands of private 

 owners, and quickly fell into a state of ruinous dilapi- 

 dation. It appears to have been entirely unoccupied, 

 and for a considerable period an almost total silence 

 rests upon the ruins. 



Towards the end of the eighteenth century the 

 castle again emerges into the light of history as a 

 depot for the safe keeping of prisoners of war. For 

 this purpose it possessed many and peculiar advan- 

 tages. The investing Roman walls completely en- 

 closed the square within, together with the Norman 

 and Tudor buildings, and thereby rendered escape 

 almost impossible. This square, moreover, was of 

 considerable size, consisting, as we have said, of some 

 nine acres, while the keep and other buildings could 

 easily be made to accommodate a large number of 

 men. Situated, too, at the head of Portsmouth har- 

 bour, and surrounded on two sides by the flowing 

 tide, prisoners could be carried up at high water to 

 the very walls of the castle, into which admittance 

 was gained through the ancient Roman water-gate. 



The castle was accordingly taken over by the War 

 Office, and preparations were hurried forward for the 

 reception of French prisoners. Fortunately, there are 

 in the writer's possession a collection of old engrav- 

 ings which clearly indicate the work done for the 

 accommodation of the unhappy captives. Several 

 prints, under date "April 1733," depict the castle in 

 a state of silent desolation — a solitary horse is feeding 

 in the great enclosure, where the rank herbage almost 



