ANCIENT DEFENSIVE EARTHWORKS 



east corner is a right angle and its east and north sides are straight lines ; 

 to the west and south its boundaries are irregular in outline, having two 

 triangular platforms of artificially raised earth (which appear to be the 

 remains of very early works) projecting beyond the present stone walls. 

 The ground falls rapidly all round this court on its north, west and 

 south sides, but on the east the slope is more gradual, and a deep ditch 

 separates it from the outer ward. The latter enclosure and the gardens 

 now lying to the north-west of it were thought by Mr. Clark to repre- 

 sent the secondary courtyard of the original earth fort ; they cover an 

 area of about j\ acres. The stream, as we have seen, formed a natural 

 defence to the early stronghold upon the west, and the pool protected 

 the south ; a moat extended along the east side, and possibly also round 

 to the north, where the present deep ditch was cut through the rock in 

 mediaeval times. 



Passing from these early works, which have been so much altered 

 by the erection of the later walls of masonry as to be only just trace- 

 able, the important mediaeval earthworks outside the walls of the castle 

 invite attention. Running in a south-easterly direction for a length of 

 about 150 yards is an artificial bank thrown right across the valley from 

 Mortimer's Tower to the Gallery or Flood Tower ; it is about 1 8 yards 

 broad and in parts about 20 feet high ; this was constructed for the 

 purpose of damming up the waters of the streams and pool, and 

 raising their level so as to improve and enlarge the water defences 

 around the castle on the south and west and north. The lake thus formed 

 on the south was half a mile long and about 100 yards across and from 

 10 to 12 feet deep ; it covered an area of 1 1 1 acres. 1 At the south-east 

 end of the great earthen dam was a ditch, 56 feet wide and 20 feet 

 deep, which served as an overflow for the waters of the lake ; portions 

 of the stonework of a sluice still remain ; the tower above, now called 

 the Gallery, was at one time known as the Floodgate Tower. Besides 

 controlling the level of the lake, this sluice was also used to cause its 

 waters to flow into the encircling moats of the castle, for, in the words 

 of the above named survey, they are ' to be let round about the castle 

 at pleasure.' Beyond the dam, a second and shallower lake was like- 

 wise formed to protect the south-east side of the fortress ; this was 

 made by the construction of another long bank of earth, which was 

 apparently only sufficiently high to retain the water to a depth of 4 

 or 5 feet. 



So important in the scheme of defences was the function of this 

 great dam and its sluice considered, that it was deemed necessary to 

 construct further extensive earthworks beyond them, in order to ensure 

 their safety in time of attack. Accordingly we find that a tongue of 

 land lying between the south side of the lake and a small water course 

 which runs in a north-easterly direction into Inchford brook, has been 



1 Vide a survey made in the time of James I. ; quoted by Dugdale in his Wane. p. 1 74, from a 

 copy in Cotton Library. 



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