CASTLE. 



(315 



Catle. and so great are exhibited, that We can scarcely n-duce 

 -Y-"" / the dilii-rmt edifices und' tain classification. 



Osir att ntion shall chiefly be directed to the castles 

 of this and the neighbouring island. 



Mr King has appropriated the erection of British 

 castles to nine successive seras. 1st, The small strong 

 Anglo-Saxon tower, one remove from the northern 

 dun ; 'Al, The large and improved castles of Alfred; 

 3d, The round Norman keeps, on high artificial 

 mounts; 4-th, The beautiful towers of Gundulph 

 about the time of the conquest ; 5th, Mixed build- 

 ings, where architects were not restrained by any 

 fixed principles ; (>th, The magnificent piles of Ed- 

 ward I. derived from foreign countries, uniting the 

 accommodations of a palace with the strength of a 

 castle; 7th, Palaces as completed by Edward III. 

 absorbing the military architecture of castles ; 8th, 

 Spacious mansions for residence, and embattled only 

 for the purpose of ornament ; 9th, Palaces properly 

 so called. These he considers as including " all the 

 regular successive alterations from rude barbarity to 

 civilization." 



Instead of illustrating the peculiarities of these dif- 

 ferent fortifications, we shall confine ourselves to 

 some miscellaneous observations on several fortresses 

 with whose structure we are acquainted, and on the 

 means of defence. 



The castles with which this island abounded, were, 

 in general, erected by individual! ; but we are told 

 they were originally so few in number, that an invad- 

 ing enemy was enabled to over-run the country. From 

 passages in the life of Alfred, it has been infered that 

 he built only wooden towers ; and it has been conclud- 

 ed, that castles walled with stone, designed both for 

 residence and defence, are not of greater antiquity than 

 the conquest. Then it is affirmed by our older his- 

 torians, that the whole kingdom was harassed with 

 building castles by command of the sovereign ; and the 

 turbulent condition of the succeeding reigns contribut- 

 ed to increase them more and more. They served as 

 well for a receptacle to the lawless, as a protection for 

 the orderly part of the community ; but from the 

 powers usurped by the rude and ignorant owners, they 

 at length became the residence of so mauy petty ty- 

 rants. Stephen is reported to have encouraged the 

 erection of castles in the earlier part of his reign, and 

 no less than 1115 were built before its close, so that the 

 face of the country was entirely covered with them. 

 However, the licentious conduct of those who inha- 

 bited them becoming intolerable, a treaty was entered 

 into with Henry Duke of Normandy, whereby all 

 constructed within a certain period should be destroy- 

 ed. Many were therefore rased to the ground, and 

 subjects were prohibited to erect others without special 

 licence. Probably the means of obtaining the royal 

 permission was not of difficult attainment, and in the 

 subsequent reigns, subjects continued to build castles 

 until they came to be no longer considered indispen- 

 sible to safety. 



It has appeared extraordinary to some, that so 

 many castles could be erected in England within so 

 short a time as from the conquest to the end of Ste- 

 phen's reign ; but let us consider what was done in 

 Ireland during the reigns of Elizabeth and James. 

 The former obliged every grantee of forfeited land to 

 build a fort or castle for the protection of his family 

 arid, tenants, and the stile of fortification was to be 



proportioned to the extent of hit grant. Lord ^ 

 AubitMiy having obtained 3000 acres, built a strong 

 castl >ng by 28 in breadth, five storie* high, 



flanked by four round towers ; adjoining to it wa* 

 another fortificalioon, 50 feet square, Banked by two 

 13 15 feet high. This castle stood where fie 

 public roads met, and kept the neighbouring country 

 in awe. In a few years one hundred and sixty eight 

 fortifications, great and small, arose in the six north- 

 ern counties ; and it has been calculated that there 

 were, most likely, not fewer than three or four thou- 

 sand in the whole island. 



Aft<*r all the intermediate stages of military archi- 

 tecture, to which the labours ot individuals, or even 

 of uncivilized states, gave birth, we at last find the 

 completion of strong and extensive edifices, artfully 

 constructed, and secured against the warlike assaults 

 of an enterprising enemy. 



A large portion of ground, sometimes extending 

 to many acres, was enclosed within the precin&s of 

 a castle, which consisted of various important parts. 

 First, the barbican, or watch tower, an advanced post, 

 stood beyond the moat by which the castle was en- 

 circled. On the verge of the moat was a wall, called 

 the wall of the outer ballium. A vacant piece of 

 ground, contained between it and another waU, was 

 called that of the inner ballium. Within this second 

 wall were the different edifices appropriated to the 

 garrison ; and the citadel, or keep, the main place of 

 refuge and security to the defenders. The walls 

 were strengthened by round or square turrets, pro. 

 perly disposed ; and we read of ingenious contri- 

 vances, among those of the most ancient construc- 

 tion, for communications among the besieged. The 

 city of Byzantium had seven towers, from one to an- 

 other of which sound could be transmitted, and in 

 such a manner, that no confusion or interruption en- 

 sued. In like manner, we find flues or cavities among 

 the remains of some of the castles of this kingdom, 

 which it is likely were intended for no other pur- 

 pose. 



The barbican, which constituted the sole entrance 

 into the castle, was connected to the moat by a draw- 

 bridge, so that it might fall into the hands of an ene- 

 my without great danger to the besieged. 



The ditch, which was either wet or dry, was fre- 

 quently of great breadth and depth : if dry, subter- 

 raneous passages from the castle sometimes commu- 

 nicated with it, through which cavalry could issue. 

 Here there was another draw-bridge connected with 

 the external rampart or will of the outer ballium, 

 which was lofty, flanked with towers, and had an 

 embattled parapet, pierced with chinks, to give a 

 view of the surrounding objects. The entrance to 

 the outer ballium, and also to the inner, was through 

 a strong gate, situated between two towers, and ren- 

 dered yet more secure by a ponderous portcullis, sli- 

 ding like a window sash in a groove of the wall. It 

 was not one gate only which protected the garrison; 

 two or even three, single or double, are seen in an- 

 cient castles, each with its iron portcullis : all which 

 had to be forced before access could be gained to 

 the interior. 



The keep, or dungeon, which our modern poets 

 absurdly call the donjon, in imitation of the barba- 

 rous French of ancient times, frequently, and per- 

 haps most properly, stood iu the centre of the whole 



