PLYMPTON CASTLE. 265 
The artist has taken some liberties with his subject, but in all pro- 
bability the seal, which would be of about the date of the deed, 
but copied from an older one, is intended to indicate only the 
general features of the building, which I think it does. What we 
have represented is evidently a portion of the north side of the 
Castle. The mound with the shell keep is shown very clearly, and 
is just such a structure as we should expect to find it; the lower 
mound in front I cannot explain, and it must be, I think, a liberty 
taken by the artist. The battlemented wall on our right is the 
curtain wall connecting the keep with the rest of the Castle, and 
which doubtless covered a staircase leading to the top of the mound. 

The loopholes shown indicate the course of the walk. We have 
next the gateway, which was the principal one, and indeed ap- 
parently the only mode of access to the interior of the Castle. You 
will notice that it is very massive, the size of the tower above 
being little less than that of the keep tower. Beyond this we 
have the wall enclosing the ballium, which was erected upon the 
bank above the ditch. This was continued, apparently without a 
break, entirely round the bank, until it met the curtain wall again 
upon the south, which ran up to the keep. On the western side 
there was an outwork, a barbican, which has been known from 
time immemorial as the Little Castle. This was connected in some ~ 
way, probably by a drawbridge, with an entrance in the wall, which 
of course would be small, and easily closed and defended. Within 
the enclosure would be the barracks for the soldiers, the dwelling 
