PORTLAND. 123 



" the land and good places for landeing as also what 

 " resistance the Inhabitants could make haveing then but 

 " onlie 3 shippes in their companie touched first of all at 

 " this Island whence (either for want of good landeing 

 " which is most likelie for there is none, or beeing driven 

 " by the inhabitants) they retired to Tingmouth in Devon." 

 Hutchins, in his History of Dorset, states : 



"THE CASTLE. 



" But little mortar or cement has been used in the 

 " construction of the walls which are roughly built of native 

 " Ashlar. Three of the sides are considerably larger than 

 " the two others. On that next the Cliff are no openings, 

 " which shew that it was originally constructed on the edge 

 " of the Cliff. On the opposite side are two openings of 

 " about 10 feet in height from the cills to the apex of the 

 " pointed arches which are splayed internally to a width of 

 " about 8 feet narrowing to about eighteen inches, but there 

 " is no slit externally to represent the splay but about 5 

 "feet from the cill a square stone is inserted with a hole 

 " about 8 inches in diameter in the centre. There are four 

 *' other openings in the face towards the East and a smaller 

 " one over a gateway in the narrow north-east face. 

 " Exteriorly at the angles and in the middle of each of the 

 " two principal faces exposed to assault are large Corbels* 

 " formed of three stones projecting outwardly beyond each 

 " other which probably formed the support of an over- 

 " hanging gallery from which an enemy approaching the 

 " walls could be advantageously annoyed with missiles. 

 " These Corbels* are in groups of three close together." 

 In Grose's Antiquities it is mentioned 



PORTLAND OLD CASTLE, DORSETSHIRE. 



" This building which stands a little to the Eastward of 

 " the Old Church and fifty steps of stone above it appears 

 * Query, Machicolations. 



