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century did not include water features. Rather, part 

 of the north enclosure's unusual outer bank appears 

 to have functioned as a garden walk or viewing 

 platform from which the surrounding parkland, into 

 which the casde projected, could be admired. The 

 castle was also closely linked to the evolving 

 medieval townscape. Painstaking analysis of the 

 town plan shows that a small borough was initially 

 founded and grew under the shadow of the royal 

 castle, until an expansion of the king's park over 

 part of the settlement in the middle of the fourteenth 

 century prompted a major reorganisation. These 

 observations open up many exciting new 

 possibilities for understanding the settings of other 

 Wiltshire castle sites and, in particular, their inter- 

 relationships with deer parks, settlements and 

 garden features. For instance, while it is well 

 understood that the earthwork remains of Norman 

 casde sites such as Downton and Marlborough were 

 redesigned as garden features in the post-medieval 

 period, we may now seek to speculate whether these 

 or other sites were components within designed 

 landscapes of far earlier date. 



The report will also doubtless be of interest to 

 readers of this journal for the contrasts it highlights 

 with comparable sites elsewhere within the county, 

 of which perhaps the most obvious is Clarendon 

 Palace. Particularly intriguing is the manner in 

 which the domestic planning of royal quarters at 

 Ludgershall reflected greater pressure on space due 

 to its massive enclosing earthworks. In addition, 

 the report provides a rather sobering reminder to 

 the fieldworker that the surviving earthwork remains 

 of castle sites, if examined in isolation, can give very 

 little idea of the complex and multi-phase nature 

 of occupation within defensive perimeters. At a 

 more general level, the report also has much to tell 

 us about the changing priorities of castle studies. 

 Envisaged in the 1960s as an excavation designed 

 to examine castle origins and establish a secure 

 sequence for the development of an earth and 

 timber and then stone castle, the focus of the project 

 has changed to examine the site in a far more holistic 

 manner. Indeed, the report provides very little 

 evidence for the earth and timber fortifications of 

 the site in its earliest phases. Unlike Trowbridge 

 Castle, the other prominent example of a Wiltshire 

 castle excavated in recent years, there is no pressing 

 evidence that the Norman castle at Ludgershall was 

 developed from an earlier Saxon manorial centre. 

 This is not to say, however, that Ludgershall Castle 

 was built on a site with no earlier occupation, as 

 the RCHME survey suggests that the southern 



enclosure originated as a prehistoric hillfort whose 

 defences were reconditioned by the first castle 

 builders and to which the northern enclosure was 

 added. In sum, this important volume has much 

 to offer the reader with an interest in the medieval 

 landscape of Wiltshire as well as those enticed by 

 the subject of castles, and will certainly provide the 

 stimulus for new discussions and debates. 



OLIVER CREIGHTON 



Richard Durman. Classical Buildings of 

 Wiltshire and Bath. A Palladian Quest. 



Millstream Books, 2000, 208 pages; 187 black and 

 white illustrations (line and photographic). Price 

 £25, hardback, ISBN 0948975601. 



This is an important book which puts the 

 architecture of Wiltshire (and the Bath area) of the 

 16th to the 19th centuries in its international 

 context. Bath itself and the country houses of 

 Wiltshire have received a good measure of attention 

 from previous writers but it is good to see them 

 brought together and considered along with the 

 many fine town houses of our county. 



Richard Durman writes lucidly. We are told 

 that he worked for many years as a local government 

 lawyer and administrator and that he was formerly 

 a Legal Member of the Royal Town Planning 

 Institute. His long interest in buildings and 

 architecture is evident and since retiring he has 

 become a Blue Badge Guide at Salisbury. 



The book starts with the significance of a 

 number of Wiltshire great houses in the early 

 development of Palladianism in England. This is 

 followed by a series of chapters mainly covering 

 the developments at Bath. Finally there is a return 

 to more Wiltshire examples. Proportion is all 

 important in Classical buildings but taste and 

 judgment also come into play and the success of a 

 design is a matter of opinion. On many occasions 

 Mr Durman is confident enough to offer us his view. 

 The development of Classical architecture in this 

 country is closely linked with the rise of the 

 professional architect as distinct from the master 

 mason or carpenter. For most of the larger 

 buildings, the name of the architect is recorded. 

 Where the architect is not known for certain, there 

 is often speculation on stylistic grounds about who 

 might have been the designer. In this the author is 

 on the whole wisely cautious. He does suggest 

 similarities between Widcombe Manor House and 



