OLD PORTLAND. 231 



this time closely besieged in Oxford by Stephen ; but instead 

 of going to her help Earl Robert captured the castle at Port- 

 land, and also other places in Dorset, which the King allowed 

 to fall into his hands rather than abandon the siege of Oxford. 

 At this time the Castle may well have suffered damage, 

 and the lands around would almost certainly have been 

 plundered and wasted. 



The portions of the building that remain suggest that the 

 Keep was originally of two stories, and perhaps there were 

 three, containing three small rooms, as this was a common 

 number, although the ancient local tradition is that the 

 work was never finished. Still, it is reasonable to assume 

 that there were the usual substantial castle -walls with their 

 fortified turrets, enclosing an inner bailey and an outer 

 bailey, and a building near or adjoining the Keep for lodging 

 the soldiers, and probably a small chapel. The fortified 

 gatehouse would have supplied accommodation for officers, 

 and the Keep itself, though the last retreat of the garrison 

 in times of war, would have contained in times of peace 

 apartments for the Constable, or Warden, of the Castle, 

 and perhaps for his wife, family, and servants. It is true 

 that the Keep at Portland is very small indeed, but con- 

 tracted space was an unpleasant feature in Norman fortresses ; 

 they wers not built for luxury, or even for comfort. The 

 principal room in a Keep, solely -accommodating the com- 

 mandant, was frequently nothing more than a dark and 

 narrow den ; and if a lady shared the rule of the tower she 

 had also one apartment for all purposes ; and, as for any 

 children or servants, they managed by day as best they 

 could on the ground floor over the dungeon, and at night 

 spread themselves on straw. 



Hutchins, however, quotes another ancient tradition 

 that the Castle was used as a place of refuge for the islanders, 

 who may have felt a certain proprietary right in it if, as has 

 been asserted, William II. imposed a land-tax on them in 

 order to complete the building. It had ceased to be a fortress 

 at any rate before Tudor times. 



