A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



garden stair building. The upper part is later, 

 probably of the time of Bishop Cosin.^ The 

 position of two windows can be seen in the wall, 

 and also the jamb of a third, but the rest of 

 the windows are cut off by Bishop Barrington's 

 extension of the gateway. These windows 

 probably gave light to the rooms that existed 

 on the courtyard side of this wall, and traces of 

 the foundation of the north wall of a building 

 are still in existence underground. Whether 

 Bishop Barrington pulled down this building 

 cannot be said, but he appears to have destroyed 

 and blocked up the three windows in order to 

 run a flue in the thickness of the wall from the 

 gatehouse cellar kitchen to the garden staircase. 



The well, the position of which had long been 

 forgotten, was found considerably to the north- 

 west of the present centre of the court, at a 

 depth of 6 ft. It was surrounded by the square 

 stone pavement of the wellhouse sloping gradually 

 from the well in the centre. The well averages 

 4 ft. in diameter, and was excavated to a depth 

 of 106 ft. ; the ashlar steaning is in fairly good 

 condition and goes down to a depth of 62 ft. It 

 is seated on the rock, which has fallen in 

 places. At a depth of 90 ft. the well was found 

 to be puddled with two layers of clay finished 

 on top with rough flags. The main supply of 

 water appears to enter from the rock at a depth 

 of 70 ft. The supply is stiU fair, but the well 

 will not hold the water, hence the partial filling 

 in and puddling, which appears to have been 

 unsuccessful. Bishop Tunstall provided the 

 castle with an independent water supply, which 

 he brought by a lead pipe from the ' pant ' 

 in the college. This in turn drew its supply 

 from the spring on the south road in the field 

 adjoining Little Wood, which to-day gives an 

 abundant supply of perfectly clear water. 

 Portions of the lead pipe have been recovered.^^ 

 When excavating on the Palace Green an old 

 wood pipe with spigot end formed out of a 

 tree trunk was found pointing directly to the 

 castle entrance. It was unfortunately too 

 decayed to be lifted from its position, and fell 

 to pieces on being touched. 



Portions of several cobble and flag paved 

 paths have been uncovered ; one leads directly 

 to the Norman entrance door of Bishop Pudsey's 

 Gallery. It is interesting to note from the 

 section of the accumulated top soil that the 

 courtyard has at one time been paved, at another 

 used as a vegetable garden, and at another 

 time covered with ashes. 



^^ In the picture hanging in Senate Room Lobby, 

 considered to be of Bishop Crewe's date, these square- 

 headed mullion windows are shown greatly resembling 

 the windows in the adjoining building. 



'1 It was ij in. inside diameter, J in. thick and cast 

 in short lengths of about 3 ft., joined together with 

 a spigot and socket joint, and burnt. 



At the south-west corner of the courtyard 

 is the Garden Stair, a small block of buildings 

 which adjoins the moat and is used for students' 

 rooms. It has a gable to the courtyard which 

 is recessed behind an embattled parapet forming 

 a pleasing feature. It was originally built 

 apparently in the Norman period, but altered 

 by Bishop Bek in the latter part of the 13th 

 century. The door entering this building from 

 the kitchen passage and a considerable part of 

 the building above the courtyard level appear 

 to be the work of Bishop Fox (1494-1501), while 

 the facing of the lower portion of the north-east 

 angle is of the time of Bishop Tunstall (1530-59). 

 Bishop Cosin (1660-72) also made various 

 alterations, and it was he probably who erected 

 the high-pitched roof, with its gable, already 

 referred to, in the place of a flat roof, and in- 

 serted the upper window. The upper part of 

 the east wall bears his arms and was possibly 

 rebuilt or refaced by him. 



The interior has been much altered and origi- 

 nally must have possessed a basement, now 

 filled in. The only item of interest remaining 

 from a fire which occurred in the 19th century 

 is the oak staircase of late i8th century 

 date. It has plain square newels finished 

 at the top with flat capitals surmounted by 

 a ball, and at the bottom with similar capitals 

 and pear-shaped pendants. The hand-rail is 

 shaped and the balusters flat and cut. A curious 

 feature is the rectangular slit or small squint 

 on the south of the entrance doorway into the 

 courtyard. The lower portion of the south 

 wall forms the old moat wall, which is of Norman 

 date, and is characterised by a boldly projecting 

 plinth course, now much decayed. The lower 

 part on the west side to the south of the kitchen 

 is probably the remains of the south-west turret 

 tower of the early Norman fortification^ where 

 they adjoined the west wall crossing the moat, 

 and has at some time been used as a latrine pit. 

 The south windows look out upon the inner 

 moat, now transformed into a garden, formerly 

 called the Bishop's Garden, but now named the 

 Don's Garden. The wall on the west side of 

 the garden is built upon the foundations of the 

 Norman outer defensive wall. The small wing 

 over the kitchen entrance is of Bishop Tunstall's 

 date, the windows and other detail corresponding 

 with those of his gallery. 



On the west and adjoining the garden stairs 

 is the kitchen, which is entered through the door 

 of the buttery hatch. It was originally built 

 by Bishop Pudsey (1153-95), possibly to house 

 the guard or garrison. There are indicationi 

 that it formerly contained several floors. The 

 extra thickness of the south wall, now covered 

 by Bishop Fox's fireplaces, suggests that this 

 wall may have possessed defensive features, 

 and its position at the junction of the castle 



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