222 
mains, escheated to the crown. Cromwell partitioned it among 
several of his officers, who drained the ditch, that circumscribed 
the greater portion of the castle walls, and likewise destroyed 
the park, and ultimately the castle, to sell the timber. Nothing 
but the tower, containing the portico, remains standing, because 
one of the officers occupied two rooms over the gateway, he 
turned this building into a dwelling place. This is still to be 
seen, and is now inhabited by Lord Clarendon’s agent, whose 
forefathers received a grant of this castle from Charles II. 
Through this building you enter the grounds belonging to the 
castle, after passing through a file of beggarly children, who offer 
you a description of the ruins for eighteen pence. Near the old 
house, called Gateway, there is a sign saying that the chimney- 
piece may be seen for sixpence. A tidy girl receives this stipend 
with a smart courtsey, and opens the door leading into an old 
room; it is one of the two which have been made out of the gate¬ 
way. The chimney-piece was probably transported from the 
castle during the sacking of it. It is of alabaster, and bears the 
inscription, a Droit et Loyal” and on each side the initial let¬ 
ters R. L., Robert Leicester; beneath it is Leicester’s coat of 
arms, surrounded by the order of the garter; below is inscribed 
the year 1571, and the motto, Vivit post funera virtus . Over 
the chimney-piece there is a square frame, containing the initial 
letters E. R., Elizabeth Regina; in the centre of it are holes, 
which lead one to believe that weapons were formerly fastened 
in them. 
The garden lies to the right of this building. Close thereto is 
the dungeon, which stands on rising ground between the castle 
and the moat, which is now transformed into meadow-ground, 
and it runs north, west, and south, round the castle to the tilting 
ground. The bank of the moat was lined by a wall, crowned 
with several towers, one of which was called the Swan-tower. 
On the left hand one perceives a large yard, in the r£ar of which 
are the out-houses, and behind them lie the fortified walls with 
several towers. On ascending to the right of the castle, you 
arrive at the grand court, which is now only encompassed on 
three sides by ruins of edifices; of the buildings that were situated 
on the fourth side, no trace is remaining. The first ruin that you 
discover on the right is that called Caesar’s tower; of this build¬ 
ing, which was quadrangular, three sides are still standing; the 
walls are on an average sixteen feet thick. Here a flight of stairs 
lead to a door, now built up, which opened to the garden. Here 
is the only fountain which has as yet been discovered among the 
ruins. It is, like the whole castle, built of red sandstone, and 
cut, farther down, out of the hard rock; it is seventy feet deep, 
but is gradually filling up by the many stones cast into it. The 
