PLYMPTON OASTLE. =” Oia 
two soldiers, who are endeavouring to set fire to the fortress. One 
of these latter is apparently wounded. However imperfectly the 
scene may be represented, we can very easily see that the fortifica- 
tions are of wood, formed by upright pieces fastened to one 
another. This is also evidenced by the men with torches trying to 
set the building on fire. 
Below the mound, but within the main enclosure, various wooden 
buildings were erected. These were the houses of the servants of 
the lord, and the barns, cattle sheds, and other belongings of a 
large establishment. 
In the outer enclosures, where they existed, the cattle were 
ordinarily kept, and at Plympton their feeding ground was the 
Hayes on the northern side, still retaining its ancient name 
in the meadows outside the Castle boundaries. Below, running 
east and west, and forming the boundary on the south, was the 
street of the little town, the inhabitants of which, the churls, 
looked to the thane for protection in time of need, and shelter 
if required, they on their part giving him their services, as he 
could demand, when he was engaged in warfare with an enemy. 
We may be sure that the lord of Plympton sallied forth with his 
men in 851, when tidings came that the Danes had landed not far 
off at Wembury, and joined, as the Saxon Chronicle says, the men 
of Devonshire, who “fought against the heathen men, and at 
Wicganbeorh made great slaughter, and gained the victory.” 
I give on the next page from the Dictionary of Mons. Viollet le 
Due an illustration of a more important place, but which conveys 
a good idea of what these fortified homes were like. Such was 
Plympton before Domesday. 
When the stark king came into Devonshire, after besieging 
Exeter, and humbling her in the dust, and speeding on to serve 
Lydford as he afterwards did the North Country, it is not probable 
he found any opposition offered him by the dwellers at Plympton, 
but it is likely that at that time the importance of the position was 
recognized, and that directions to build one of the many castles 
then contemplated were given. 
The Roman encampment was for the defence of the empire, 
the Keltic earthwork was for the protection of the tribe; but the 
aim of the Norman was a more selfish one, security for himself 
and his estate. ‘Every man who acquired land sought also to 
possess a stronghold, from which he might sally forth and win a 
