George Thomas Clark

“ A fortress, whether Saxon or Norman, would, as a rule, attract inhabitants to place themselves under its protection; and however spacious may have been the area enclosed—and a little under six acres is the very utmost that has ever been assigned to it,—there must always have been ample room between the walls and the river to the north, where the present town is located. If ever the town stood upon the west bank, the balance of probability is in favour of its having been transferred across the stream as soon as the Saxon hold was established there. ”

“ Usually, as at London, Hedingham, and Newcastle, the uppermost gallery runs quite round the building, communicating with each window without entering the great room. At one angle a spiral stair rises from the base to the summit, and opens into each floor and gallery. ”

“ A Norman wall may usually be detected by its dressed quoins, flat buttresses, and its square buttress-towers of little or no interior projection, as at Lincoln, Coningsborough, Chester, and Carlisle. The battlements of Orford wall are possibly Norman, but it is probable that they used sometimes the plain parapet, sometimes the parapet notched at long intervals. The wall, towers, and gates of the inner bailey of Dover are Norman, as is part of the battlement, and the whole form a very fine example. ”

“ The east, or lower wall rests on the un- disturbed ground, a little above the level of the scarp of the ditch, and the west, or upper wall upon the edge of the level summit of the mound, nearly the whole of which thus extends undisturbed to the west and north-west of the building. The difference in level of the base of the two faces of the keep is about 15 ft. It is exceedingly rare to find a rectangular keep placed upon an artificial mound. Guildford and Christchurch in Hampshire are the only recorded examples. ”

“ In position it is to the south of London what Berkhampstead Castle is on the north; both are placed in gorges of the chalk, both upon tributaries of the Thames; both are late Norman castles, founded upon earlier Saxon earthworks, and both were for centuries held direct by the Crown. Guildford, however, unlike Berkhampstead, though the nucleus of a large town, has no military history. Although Surrey and Sussex are by no means deficient in traces of early occupation, the immediate neighbourhood of Guildford is in this respect almost a blank. ”

“ The outer gate-house, though late Norman, has no portcullis. At Portchester the keep occupies one angle of the Roman enclosure, and at Lincoln the castle wall stands upon the wall of the Roman city.
The Norman buttress-towers were few, and their exterior projection small, as at Ludlow, Middleham, and Richmond. They rarely constructed a regular gate-house, but erected two towers near to each other. Good examples of Norman entrances remain at the inner bailey Dover, and at Newcastle, near Bridgend. Sometimes, as at Cardiff, access to the walls is rendered easy by a bank of earth behind them. ”

“ On this side, the High Street and the present town of Guildford intervene between the castle and the river.
The keep stands on the eastern and highest part of the platform, and commands the rest of the castle, as the castle commands the town; and here are what appear to be the remains of the Saxon residence. At the foot of the steep, a mound, wholly artificial, but resting upon an inclined natural base, has been thrown up, composed of chalk, in form conical, truncated, and with a level summit, no doubt originally circular, and still nearly so, and about 90 ft. ”

“ If we suppose a square or polygon to be fortified by a wall, with towers at its angles, it is evident that the centre of each curtain wall, midway between its towers, will be passively the weakest part of the wall, but that in defence of which most weapons can be directed; and the centre of each tower, midway between its curtains, will be the strongest part of the work, but that in defence of which fewest weapons can be directed ”

“ Also, for many yards around, the rubbish, elsewhere of pure white, is dark and foul, as though, failing to reach wwater, or afterwards disused for that purpose, the well had been employed as a receptacle for all the filth of the prison. As to the age of these quarries, it is not easy to form a sound opinion. ”

“ As the country became more peaceful, those who possessed old castles found them inconvenient dwellings. Some were altered, as Powis castle; others pulled down, as Queenborough; and the materials employed in the construction of a new house, as that of the Van from Caerphilly; others left in ruins, as Hedingham, Rochester, Prudhoe, Canterbury; and some were converted into prisons and store-houses, as Portchester and London, Dover and Newcastle. ”

“ There was, no doubt, a risk in placing so heavy a building upon an artificial hill even though a couple of centuries old, but the result has justified the means employed, fur there is not a crack nor mark of settlement in the whole edifice. Grose represents some half-buried arches on the south side, not now visible, but which, if they ever existed, which is more than doubtful, might indicate that parts of the building rested on piers, carried down to the solid ground. ”

“ The fine bold drum-towers that flank the outer gateway of so many castles, as Chepstow, Beaumaris, &c., are Edwardian. Circular and octagonal towers of this age frequently spring from a square plan or base, the angles of which gradually rise as a half pyramid cut obliquely until they die away into the upper figure of the tower towards the level of the first story. These towers are common in Wales, as at Marten's tower, Chepstow; Castel Côch, near Cardiff; Carew castle, near Pembroke; Newport, Monmouthshire, &c. This description of tower also occurs next the Constable's gate at Dover. ”

“ In the Edwardian castle, the solid keep becomes developed into an open quadrangle, defended at the sides and angles by gate-houses and towers, and containing the hall and state apartments ranged along one side of the court. The term keep is no longer applicable, and around this inner ward, or bailey, two or three lines of defence are disposed concentrically. Such castles frequently enclose many acres, and present an imposing appearance [13] .
The parts of a perfect Edwardian castle are:—The inner bailey, the walls of the enceinte, single, double, or triple. ”

“ The Early English period, rich in ecclesiastical, is poor in military structures. Walls and buttresses were added, but the ornaments of the style are rare. The middle wall of London was the work of Henry III., 1239; and one of the towers contains a groined Early English chamber. There are also Early English additions to the keep. The gateways of the inner bailey at Dover, with their portcullis, though Norman, bear some features of the Early English style. ”

“ Guildford Castle occupied a natural platform of nearly six acres upon the slope of the chalk hill, far below its summit, and from 40 to 80 feet above the river. The platform, inclining gently towards the stream, terminates at about 80 yards from its bank in a low cliff of from 10 to 12 ft. high, in parts replaced by and in parts resting upon a steep natural slope or talus, which dies away 40 ft. lower down, into the meads traversed by the river. The crest of this cliff or talus is occupied by Quarry Street, and forms the west front of the castle. ”

“ Lines drawn from the centre of a place through its angles are called "capitals;" they are the lines of approach at present employed.
The changes introduced with the thirteenth century assumed a determinate form under Edward I., and produced the second great type of English castle, the "Edwardian" or Concentric. ”

“ It speaks little for the public spirit of Guildford that they are not photographed.
On the other or north side of the main entrance, also in the west wall, is a second mural chamber, entered by a narrow, round-headed, original door, 2 ft. 4 in. broad by 7 ft. 7 in. high, quite plain, of ashlar. This chamber has a rude, round-headed barrel vault, and is 9 ft. 2 in. long by 5 ft. 1 in. broad. There is one loop in the west wall. The walls are rubble, but the internal jamb of the door, being of chalk ashlar, bears some carvings in the style of those described above. ”

“ The upper story of the tower of Morlais, as of Castle Côch, contains a number of large fire-places; something of the same sort is seen at Coningsborough, with the addition of an oven.
The Edwardian castles are frequently quite original [14] ; they occur also as additions encircling a Norman keep, as at Dover, Portchester, Bamborough, Corfe, Goodrich, Lancaster, Carlisle, and Rochester. Edward I. completed the tower-ditch of London. The existing walls of towers are commonly Edwardian, though on an older foundation, as York, Canterbury, Chester, Chepstow, and their various bars and gates. ”

“ The extreme points of the excavation are a little over 55 yards north-west and south-cast, by 32 yards north-east and south-west, but the area actually excavated is only about 1,150 yards, and the cubical contents about 2,330 yards. The plan alone would show that they were opened for quarries. But besides this, although much solid chalk has been removed, the excavation is nearly choked up with the immense quantity of "small" produced by unskilful working, and through which narrow paths are left to get at the face of the work. ”

“ The bases are now concealed; the piers are with- out caps, and quite plain. The roof is vaulted, and 10 ft. 3 in. from the floor to the cornice, groined and ribbed. The arches are drop, and pointed, the ribs chamfered, and springing from carved corbels in the wall. At the south end of each aisle is a window recess, converging and rising to a loop at the street level. The entrance is by a narrow drop-arched door, opening from a rising passage, vaulted, with hanging ribs. This opens into a small chamber, north of, and 4 or 5 ft. ”

“ The Cornhills were a family of farmers-general of the revenues of the counties south of London, and between 1164 and 1215, Gervase, Henry, Ralph, and Reginald de Cornhill, appear as sheriffs of Surrey and Sussex then combined. In this year, 1213, also one hundred deer, "damos et damas," were given from Guildford to the Archbishop of Canterbury to replenish his park. In 1214, 24th August, 53s. was allowed for the entertainment of the Papal legate, then on his way to revoke the Interdict. Rochester and Guildford Castles are mentioned together in this year as undergoing some repairs. ”

“ It is certain that the Conqueror found no fortress in England at all resembling those whose ruins have descended to the present day. William, however, constructed very many castles, and before the death of Stephen their number is said to have amounted to eleven hundred and fifteen. ”

“ At Château sur Epte, in Normandy, there are two mounds, one within and one forming part of the enclosure. At York and Canterbury are mounds just within the city walls. In modern fortifications they are called Cavaliers. There is one in the citadel of Antwerp. ↑ The shell or remains of it are seen at Château-Gaillard, built by Richard I., Oxford, Cardiff, Durham, Clifford's tower at York, Lincoln, Clave, Tamworth, Carisbrook. ↑ Bernard's castle includes seven acres. ”

“ In the same year, 24th Dec, Edward was himself at Guildford, as he was in 1340, and again 27th—28th Dec 1347, in which year the commonalty of Sussex petitioned that Chichester, in place of Guildford, might be the county gaol. The petition was set aside, and in 41 Ed. III. the sheriff still held his official residence in the castle, which was the prison, as before, for the two counties. 42 Ed. III. 1368, 28th July, the king was here. 43 Ed. III. the custody of the castle and park was given to Helmyng Legatte for life. ”

“ Towards the north and cast the walls are entirely removed, but in these quarters the line of the ditch affords a clue to the original boundary. The enceinte, thus laid down, measures about 535 yards; its greatest north and south diameter, 170 yards; and east and west, 140 yards. The Quarry Street front is straight and 138 yards long, with the gate nearly in the middle. From the postern tower to the end of the keep causeway is 213 yards, and thence to the King's Head angle, 184 yards. ”