Essay on Caerphilly Castle, 193 



On the other haiid^ the pomegranate moulding,* the rich, though chaste 

 canopies of the door and windows, the little pilasters in the windows with 

 the pentagonal capitals, the ogee arches, and the plain fillet running up 

 the columnar corbels of the roof, are marks all belonging to the "deco- 

 rated" style, which prevailed in England from 1307 to 1377- 



The mixture of these two styles, very common in English buildings, de- 

 notes a period varying according to the preponderance of either, and in 

 the present instance may faitlifully and legitimately be referred to tlie 

 reign of Edward the first, when tlie decorated style was beginning to super- 

 sede the early English throughout the country. Instances of this transi- 

 tion, and of the pomegranate moulding, may be seen round the inside of 

 the choir of Bristol Cathedral, and on the outside of the south aisle of 

 Keynsham church, the windows of which, however, are perpendicular. 



The earlier alterations at Chepstow, and more particularly the oratory 

 attached to Marten's tower, and the columnar corbels in the keep, are of 

 an earlier date than Caerphilly, having been evidently placed there before 

 the decline of the early English style. 



AVith respect to the evidence of history, it appears that up to the year 

 1270, or thereabouts, the castle of Senghennyth was occasionally destroyed 

 and rebuilt, but that its site then fell into the hands of Gilbert earl of 

 Clare, a powerful baron, Edward the first's son-in-law, and therefore a 

 very likely man to have erected a castle like the present. 



Admitting the castle to have been founded at that period, a question 

 arises as to whether the whole of it was then built. Upon this point we 

 would wisli to speak with diffidence, arising from the absence of all archi- 

 tectural ornament in many portions of the castle, and the want on our own 

 part of a sufficiently critical knowledge of ancient masonry. We think, 

 however, that the inner ballium, all its contents, and almost all its ap- 

 pendages, arc of the same date, and as old as any other part of the castle. 

 With respect to the curtains, bastions, and gate-houses, there can be no 

 doubt ; and though it be doubtful whether the water-gallery and kitchens 

 were part of the original plan, yet it is certain that the south wall was al- 

 ways of its present iieight, and therefore always intended to support the roof 

 of the hall. The walls of the hall also appear to be bonded closely into that 

 of the curtain ; and to remove any further doubt, the window of the state rooms, 

 and those of the oratory in the inner gate-house, are in their form and 

 mouldings precisely similar. The gate-houses are evidently part of tiie ori- 

 ginal plan, being thoroughly Eflwardian ; and it is extremely improbable that 

 the window in the state rooms should be older than those rooms themselves. 



• Tlic jjomcgranatc moulding is composed of a number of balls, set at intervals in 

 a concave nioulding. liach ball represents a flower of three petals, separated by 

 open spaces, and each passing towards the centre to enclose a small sphere. An 

 ornament at first sight somewhat resembling this, is observed in early English 

 structures. 



Ko. .0.— Vol. 1. 2 D* 



