Mark Antony Lower

“ At the Norman Conquest Pevensey became the property of the Conqueror's half-brother Robert, Earl of Mortain, and as it was the head of a great barony, there can be no doubt that that potent noble soon fortified the ruinated works by extensive repairs and by the addition of a new castle at the south-eastern corner of the Roman area. ”

“ Nature in general deals kindly and tenderly with the works of man, but, alas! how few architectural remains can be said to have been
"Religione patrum multos servata per annos."
Certainly at Pevensey, the ravages of time have been slight compared with those wrought by the hands of man.
The great entrance, or Decuman gate, with its strong weather-worn flanking towers (B and C) is the first object that strikes the eye of the visitor on his approach to the ruins from the west. These towers expand outwardly, and have a south-westerly aspect ”

“ At the tower marked G in the plan, and there only, the tile courses are four in number. The use of tile throughout the whole structure is much more sparingly introduced than at Dover, Richborough, Lymne, and other places. From some excavations carried on in the year 1710, for the purpose of supplying the town of Pevensey with water from the moat of the interior or medieval castle by a channel beneath the Roman walls, it was found that the latter, which were ten feet thick, had rested upon a foundation consisting of piles planked over with slabs of extraordinary substance. ”

“ It does not pass at right angles through the wall, but by a singular winding course, obviously for better defence. Nothing of importance was discovered here. The wall from this point in a north-easterly direction for about 200 feet has fallen, whether from some defect in the foundation or from violence we could not form a conjecture. From the end of the fallen wall in the direction of tower G we caused a deep trench to be sunk, disclosing the inner facing of the wall in a good state of preservation, from a thick bed of clay having been laid against it. ”

“ Wherever, throughout East Sussex, a castle and a monastery or other religious foundation stand in moderate proximity to each other, an underground communication according to the popular notion always exists. Lewes Castle and Priory, Hastings Castle and Priory, Burlough Castle (near Alfriston) and Wilmington Priory, and Bodiam Castle and Robertsbridge Abbey, may be named aa sites connected with this whimsical "folk-lore." Considerable disappointment was felt by some of the rustic inhabitants of Pevensey at the non-realisation of the popular theory in the present instance. ”

“ Near the two cannons at h, some trenches were made, and one or two Roman coins were found. [9]
A foolish tradition connects Pevensey Castle with the ancient house in Westham called Priesthawes, by a subterraneous passage. As the two places are between two and three miles apart, so preposterous an idea could not for a moment be entertained; but since an elderly inhabitant of the neighbourhood vouched for the fact of his having in his youth accidentally discovered some kind of passage a few perches to the south-westward of the great gateway, we thought it worth while to examine the ground. ”

“ If our labours have yielded no results of very striking interest, I trust that they will still be deemed of a nature to repay the cost of time and money expended upon them. At all events we cannot be censured for not having brought to light objects which might reasonably have been expected to be met with on such a site. ”

“ A singular feature presented itself here and in various other places in the course of the excavations. The original floor or area has been covered with a bed of stiff red clay to the depth of five, six, or even eight feet, and this with the debris of the masonry and a superincumbent mass of animal and vegetable matter has so elevated the surface, that the walls, which on the outside are upwards of twenty-five feet high, are at some places internally little more than a breastwork. ”

“ Massive but unsightly buttresses of brickwork have been applied for the purpose of remedying the danger which had accrued from this spoliation, and it is to be hoped that henceforward these venerable walls, associated as they are with so much that is grand and interesting in our history, will remain uninjured, at least by human agency. ”

“ A single stone step forming the ascent into the chancel remains. A few fragments of Roman tile from the old work were found imbedded in the foundation walls. Below the level of the floor of the chancel several skeletons were exhumed. This part of the edifice had been divided longitudinally into three cells or graves. In the northernmost of these was the skeleton of a man five feet below the surface. ”

“ Here we find among many others, Hidney, Chilley, Mankseye, Horseye, Northeye, Langney, Rickney, Mountney. Foremost in importance in this little archipelago stood the insulated or peninsulated spot which was seized upon by the Romans as a site for the station which was afterwards known as the Civitas Anderida, and which, after its total destruction (excepting only the external walls) by the Saxons, assumed the name of Peofnesea—probably from some early proprietor called Peofn. ”

“ Notwithstanding the length of time they had lain in the earth, these timbers exhibited no symptoms of decay, and even the leaves of some brushwood which had been thrown in were found equally well preserved. The external facing stones at the bottom of the walls have everywhere been removed for building purposes. For ages Pevensey Castle served as a quarry for the neighbouring country ”

“ The lower stories have been vaulted, and the arches of the north-western tower (2) are still almost complete in the circumference of the wall. This is considered with some probability to have been the residence of the governor.
The Roman tower marked M has fallen from its original position and lies or stands (for I do not know which is the better expression) , at a considerably inclined angle — the "leaning tower" of Pevensey! ”

“ This medieval work is curiously engrafted upon the Roman, as will be seen on reference to the plan. The area is 1 acre, 1 rood, 35 perches. In addition to one Roman tower remaining in the eastern wall, there are five of the subsequent era. The connecting walls, will, I believe, be found to be Norman, and the towers themselves not earlier than the close of the thirteenth century. The great gateway (3) is flanked by two ruinated towers, has an aspect nearly due west, and looks towards the principal entrance of the Roman work from which it is distant nearly 550 feet. Mr. ”

“ Wright, in the article previously alluded to (Gent. Mag., Aug., 1852) , remarks that "in this gateway, and more especially in the external forms of the towers round the castle, the medieval architect imitated the Roman models before him." The arrangements for the portcullis and drawbridge remain very distinct, and the addition of what I will call the Edwardian work to the Norman gate, as originally constructed, is sufficiently distinguishable. ”