Early Norman Castles Of The British Isles - free ebook by Ella S. Armitage

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Early Norman Castles Of The British Isles

Ella S. Armitage

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THE EARLY NORMAN CASTLES OF THE BRITISH ISLES

THE EARLY NORMAN CASTLES OF THE BRITISH ISLES

THE EARLY NORMAN CASTLES OF THE BRITISH ISLES BY ELLA S. ARMITAGE HONORARY FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND AUTHOR OF “THE CHILDHOOD OF THE ENGLISH NATION”; “THE CONNECTION OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND”; “AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH ANTIQUITIES,” ETC., ETC. WITH PLANS BY D. H. MONTGOMERIE, F.S.A. LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1912 [Pg iv] [Pg v]...

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ERRATA

ERRATA

Page 34, note 1.— For “construerat” read “construxerat.” Page 40, line 9.— For “there was only one motte, the site of the castle of the Norman Giffards is now almost obliterated,” read “there was only one motte, site of the castle of the Norman Giffards, now almost obliterated.” Page 133, line 16.— For “1282” read “1182.” Page 145, note 1.— For “Legercestria” read “Legecestria.” Page 147, line 15.—Delete comma after “castle.” Page 216, note 2.— For “instalment” read “statement.” Page 304, note 3

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PREFACE

PREFACE

Some portions of this book have already appeared in print. Of these, the most important is the catalogue raisonné of early Norman castles in England which will be found in Chapter VII ., and which was originally published in the English Historical Review (vol. xix., 1904). It has, however, been enlarged by the inclusion of five fresh castles, and by notes upon thirty-four others, of which the article in the Review gave only the names; the historical notes in that essay being confined to the cast

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THE EARLY NORMAN CASTLES OF THE BRITISH ISLES CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY

THE EARLY NORMAN CASTLES OF THE BRITISH ISLES CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY

The study of earthworks has been one of the most neglected subjects in English archæology until quite recent years. It may even be said that during the first half of the 19th century, less attention was paid to earthworks than by our older topographical writers. Leland, in the reign of Henry VIII., never failed to notice the “Dikes and Hilles, which were Campes of Men of Warre,” nor the “Hilles of Yerth cast up like the Dungeon of sum olde Castelle,” which he saw in his pilgrimages through Engla

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CHAPTER II ANGLO-SAXON FORTIFICATIONS

CHAPTER II ANGLO-SAXON FORTIFICATIONS

We have pointed out in the preceding chapter that when it is asked whether the earthworks of the moated mound-and-court type were the work of the Anglo-Saxons, the question resolves itself into another, namely, Did the Anglo-Saxons build castles? As far as we know, they did not; and although to prove a negative we can only bring negative evidence, that evidence appears to us to be very conclusive. But before we deal with it, we will try to find out what sort of fortifications the Anglo-Saxons ac

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The Burhs of Edward the Elder.

The Burhs of Edward the Elder.

Hertford. —Two burhs were built by Edward at Hertford in 913, one on the north and the other on the south side of the river Lea. Therefore if a burh were the same thing as a motte, there ought to be two mottes at Hertford, one on each side of the river; whereas there is only one, and that forms part of the works of the Norman castle. Mr Clark, with his usual confidence, says that the northern mound has “long been laid low”; [92] but there is not the slightest proof that it ever existed except in

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CHAPTER IV DANISH FORTIFICATIONS

CHAPTER IV DANISH FORTIFICATIONS

We must now inquire into the nature of the fortifications built by the Danes in England, which are frequently mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . It has often been asserted, and with great confidence, that the Danes were the authors of the moated mounds of class( e ); those in Ireland are invariably spoken of by Lewis in his Topographical Dictionary as “Danish Raths.” This fancy seems to have gone somewhat out of fashion since Mr Clark’s burh theory occupied the field, though Mr Clark’s vie

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CHAPTER V THE ORIGIN OF PRIVATE CASTLES

CHAPTER V THE ORIGIN OF PRIVATE CASTLES

We have now seen that history furnishes no instance of the existence of private castles among the Anglo-Saxons or the Danes (previous to the arrival of Edward the Confessor’s Norman friends), and we have endeavoured to show that this negative evidence is of great significance. If, assuming that we are right in accepting it as conclusive, we ask why the Anglo-Saxons did not build private castles, the answer is ready to hand in the researches of the late Dr Stubbs, the late Professor Maitland, Dr

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CHAPTER VI DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF MOTTE-CASTLES

CHAPTER VI DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF MOTTE-CASTLES

The motte-and-bailey type of castle is to be found throughout feudal Europe, but is probably more prevalent in France and the British Isles than anywhere else. We say probably , because there are as yet no statistics prepared on which to base a comparison. [205] How recent the inquiry into this subject is may be learned from the fact that Krieg von Hochfelden, writing in 1859, denied the existence of mottes in Germany; [206] and even Cohausen in 1898 threw doubt upon them, [207] although General

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CHAPTER VII THE CASTLES OF THE NORMANS IN ENGLAND

CHAPTER VII THE CASTLES OF THE NORMANS IN ENGLAND

In this chapter we propose to give a list, in alphabetical order for convenience of reference, of the castles which are known to have existed in England in the 11th century, because they are mentioned either in Domesday Book, or in charters of the period, or in some contemporary chronicle. [241] We do not for a moment suppose that this catalogue of eighty-four castles is a complete list of those which were built in England in the reigns of William I. and William II. We have little doubt that all

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CHAPTER VIII MOTTE-CASTLES IN NORTH WALES

CHAPTER VIII MOTTE-CASTLES IN NORTH WALES

Motte-castles are as common in Wales as they are in England, and in certain districts much more common. It is now our task to show how they got there. They were certainly not built (in the first instance at any rate) by the native inhabitants, for they do not correspond to what we know to have been the state of society in Wales during the Anglo-Saxon period. [823] The Welsh were then in the tribal condition, a condition, as we have shown, inconsistent with the existence of the private castle. Th

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Castles of Pembrokeshire.

Castles of Pembrokeshire.

Pembroke. —Giraldus says that Arnulf de Montgomeri first built this castle of sods and wattles, a scanty and slender construction, in the reign of Henry I. [911] This date, however, must certainly be wrong, for the castle sustained a siege from the Welsh in 1094, and in 1098 Arnulf gave the chapel of St Nicholas in his castle of Pembroke to the abbey of St Martin at Sées. [912] There is no motte at Pembroke Castle; the magnificent keep (clearly of the 13th century or later) stands in a small war

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Castles of Cardigan.

Castles of Cardigan.

Cardigan Castle, or Aberteifi, has been so much transformed by the incorporation of the keep into a modern house that nothing decisive can be said about its original plan, but there is nothing to foreclose the idea of a previous motte, and Speed’s plan of 1611 seems to show that the keep and the small ward attached to it were on a higher elevation than the bailey. That the first castle was a wooden one is rendered almost certain by the fact that Rhys ap Griffith, after having demolished the prev

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Castles of Carmarthenshire.

Castles of Carmarthenshire.

Rhyd y Gors , or Rhyd Cors.—We have no hesitation in adopting the opinion of the late Mr Floyd, that this is another name for the castle of Carmarthen. [938] As it and Pembroke were the only castles which held out during the great Welsh revolt of 1096, [939] it is evident that they were the two strongest and best defended places, therefore the most important. Carmarthen also was a Roman city, and its walls were still standing in Giraldus’ time; [940] it was therefore the place where one would ex

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Castles in Brecknockshire.

Castles in Brecknockshire.

Brecon , or Aberhonddu, the seat of Bernard de Neufmarché himself.—A charter of Bernard’s mentions the castle. [960] It seems to have been a particularly strong place, as we do not hear of its having been burnt more than once. The newer castle of Brecon is evidently of the time of Edward I., but across the road the old motte of Bernard is still standing, and carries the ruins of a shell wall, with a gatehouse tower. [961] A portion of the bank and ditch of the bailey remains; the whole is now in

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Castles of Radnorshire.

Castles of Radnorshire.

* Radnor , or Maes Hyvaidd.—Though this castle is not mentioned in the Brut till 1196, when it was burnt by Rhys ap Griffith, it must have been built by the Normans at a very early period. The English had penetrated into the Radnor district even before the Norman Conquest, [971] and the Normans were not slow to follow them. A charter of Philip de Braose is granted at “Raddenoam” not later than 1096. [972] There are mottes both at Old and New Radnor, towns three miles distant from each other, so

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Castles of Glamorganshire.

Castles of Glamorganshire.

Cardiff ( Fig. 43 ).—The first castle of Cardiff was certainly a wooden one; its lofty mound still remains. It is placed inside a Roman station, and the south and west walls of the castle bailey rest on Roman foundations, “but do not entirely coincide with those foundations.” [979] The Roman fort was probably ruinous when Robert Fitz Hamon placed his first castle there, as on the N. and E. sides the bailey is defended by an earthbank, in which the remains of a Roman wall have been found buried.

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Castles of Gower.

Castles of Gower.

* Swansea , or Abertawy.—This was the castle of Henry Beaumont, the conqueror of Gower. The present castle is comparatively modern. It is inside the town; but there used to be a moated mound outside the town, which was only removed in 1804. It seems probable to us that this was the original castle of Beaumont. [989] That this first castle had a motte is suggested by the narrative in the Brut which tells how Griffith ap Rhys burnt the outworks in 1115, but was unable to get at the tower. [990] *

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CHAPTER X MOTTE-CASTLES IN SCOTLAND

CHAPTER X MOTTE-CASTLES IN SCOTLAND

The Scottish historians of the 19th century have amply recognised the Anglo-Norman occupation of Scotland, which took place in the 11th and 12th centuries, ever since its extent and importance were demonstrated by Chalmers in his Caledonia . Occupation is not too strong a word to use, although it was an occupation about which history is strangely silent, and which seems to have provoked little resistance except in the Keltic parts of the country. But it meant the transformation of Scotland from

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CHAPTER XI MOTTE-CASTLES IN IRELAND

CHAPTER XI MOTTE-CASTLES IN IRELAND

In the year 1169, when the first Norman invaders landed in Ireland, the private castle had been in existence in England for more than a hundred years, and had it been suited to the social organisation of the Irish people, there had been plenty of time for its introduction into Ireland. Nor are we in a position to deny that some chieftain with a leaning towards foreign fashions may have built for himself a castle in the Anglo-Norman style; all we can say is that there is not the slightest evidenc

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CHAPTER XII STONE CASTLES OF THE NORMAN PERIOD

CHAPTER XII STONE CASTLES OF THE NORMAN PERIOD

It may be a surprise to some of our readers to learn how very few stone castles there are in England which can certainly be ascribed to the first period of the Norman Conquest, that is to the 11th century. When we have named the Tower of London, Colchester, the recently excavated foundations of the remarkable keep at Pevensey, and perhaps the ruined keep of Bramber, we have completed the list, as far as our present knowledge goes, though possibly future excavations may add a few others. [1111] I

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APPENDICES APPENDIX A PRIMITIVE FOLK-MOOTS

APPENDICES APPENDIX A PRIMITIVE FOLK-MOOTS

The popular meetings of the Anglo-Saxons, those of the hundred and the shire, were held in the open air. Since many of those who attended them had to travel far, some sign was necessary to mark out the place of meeting, and some striking feature, such as a hillock, or a particular tree, or an ancient barrow, was chosen. Thus we have the Shire Oak, near Leeds, which gives its name to the wapentake of Skyrack; and in a charter of Edgar we find the mot-beorh mentioned, and translated Congressionis

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APPENDIX B WATLING STREET AND THE DANELAGH

APPENDIX B WATLING STREET AND THE DANELAGH

It has been pointed out by Schmid ( Gesetze der Angelsachsen , xxxviii.) that the document called Alfred and Guthrum’s Peace cannot belong to the year of Guthrum’s baptism at Wedmore; and Mr J. R. Green ( Conquest of England , p. 151) goes further, and doubts whether the boundaries laid down in this deed refer to anything except to the East Anglian kingdom of Guthrum. But Mr Green gives no adequate reason for rejecting the generally accepted conclusion that the Watling Street was the boundary be

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APPENDIX C THE MILITARY ORIGIN OF ALFRED’S BOROUGHS

APPENDIX C THE MILITARY ORIGIN OF ALFRED’S BOROUGHS

Keutgen ( Untersuchungen über den Ursprung der Deutschen Stadtverfassung , 1895) appears to have been the first to notice the military origin of the Old Saxon boroughs; and Professor Maitland saw the applicability of the theory to the boroughs of Alfred and Edward the Elder. ( Domesday Book and Beyond. ) The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , in 894, speaks of “the men whose duty it was to defend the towns”; this proves that Alfred had made some special arrangement for the defence of the towns; and this ar

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APPENDIX D THE WORDS “CASTRUM” AND “CASTELLUM”

APPENDIX D THE WORDS “CASTRUM” AND “CASTELLUM”

If we take the chroniclers of the reign of Charlemagne and his successors in the 9th century, we find the word castrum constantly used for places such as Avignon, Dijon, Macon, Rheims, Chalons, Cologne, Andernach, Bonn, Coblenz, etc., all of which are known to have been Roman castra , when there can be no doubt that the city is meant. Take, for instance, the Annales Mettenses (Pertz, i., 326), 737: Karl Martel hears that the Saracens have taken “castrum munitissimum Avinionem” (Avignon); he marc

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APPENDIX E THE BURGHAL HIDAGE

APPENDIX E THE BURGHAL HIDAGE

The Burghal Hidage has been printed by Birch, Cartularium , iii., 671. The manuscript is very corrupt, and several of the places cannot be identified. Those which can be identified are: Hastings, Lewes, Burpham (near Arundel), Chichester, Porchester, Southampton, Winchester, Wilton, Tisbury, Shaftesbury, Twineham, Wareham, Bridport, Exeter, Halwell, Lidford, Pilton, Barnstaple, Watchet, Axbridge, Lyng (near Athelney), Langport, Bath, Malmesbury, Cricklade, Oxford, Wallingford, Buckingham, Eashin

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APPENDIX F THELWALL

APPENDIX F THELWALL

A writer in the Manchester Guardian a few years ago suggested a new solution of the name Thelwall. He believes that the Thelwall raised by Edward was a boundary wall of timber, stretching from Thelwall to Runcorn. The Mersey, he argues, above Thelwall formerly broadened out into a series of swamps which would effectually defend the frontier towards the east. But westward from Thelwall there were no such obstacles, and it is assumed that Edward made a timber wall from Thelwall to Ethelfleda’s for

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APPENDIX G THE WORD “BRETASCHE”

APPENDIX G THE WORD “BRETASCHE”

This word, which also appears as bretagium, britagium, or bristega, evidently means a tower, as is clear from the following passages: Order from King John to erect a mota et bretagium at Roscrea, in Ireland (Sweetman’s Calendar , i., 412); Order by Henry III. to the dwellers in the Valley of Montgomery “quod sine dilatione motas suas bonis bretaschiis firmari faciant” ( Close Rolls , ii., 42); Order that the timber and bretasche of Nafferton Castle be carried to Newcastle, and the bretasche to b

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APPENDIX H THE WORDS “HURDICIUM” AND “HORDIARI”

APPENDIX H THE WORDS “HURDICIUM” AND “HORDIARI”

These words refer to the wooden galleries carried round the tops of walls, to enable the defenders to throw down big stones or other missiles on those who were attempting to attack the foot of the walls. “Hurdicia quæ muros tutos reddebant.” ( Philippidos , vii., 201; Bouquet, xvii.) The word “alures” is sometimes used in the same sense. See a mandamus of Henry III., cited by Turner, History of Domestic Architecture , i., 198: “To make on the same tower [of London] on the south side, at the top,

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APPENDIX I “HERICIO, ERICIO, HERITO, HERISSON”

APPENDIX I “HERICIO, ERICIO, HERITO, HERISSON”

This is derived from the French word hérisson , a hedgehog, and should mean something bristling, perhaps with thorns or osiers. Several passages show that it was a defence on the counterscarp of the ditch, and it may sometimes have been a hedge. Cohausen, Befestigungen der Vorzeit , shows that hedges were frequently used in early fortifications (pp. 8-13). The following passages seem to show clearly that it was on the counterscarp of the ditch: “[Montreuil] il a bien clos, esforce e ferme de pel

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APPENDIX K THE CASTLE OF YALE

APPENDIX K THE CASTLE OF YALE

In the year 1693, the antiquary Edward Llwyd was sitting on the motte of Tomen y Rhoddwy engaged in making a very bad plan of the castle [published in Arch. Camb. , N.S., ii., 57]. His guide told him that he had heard his grandfather say that two earls used to live there. Llwyd called the guide an ignorant fellow. Modern traditions are generally the work of some antiquary who has succeeded in planting his theories locally; but here we have a tradition of much earlier date than the time when anti

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APPENDIX L THE CASTLE OF TULLOW OR “COLLACHT,” p. 335

APPENDIX L THE CASTLE OF TULLOW OR “COLLACHT,” p. 335

This information is kindly supplied by Mr Goddard H. Orpen, who writes to me: “I visited Tullow lately, and asked myself where would a Norman erect a mote, and I had no difficulty in answering: on the high ground near where the Protestant church stands. When I got up there the first thing that I noticed was that the church stood on a platform of earth 10 to 14 feet higher than the road, and that this platform was held in position by a strong retaining wall, well battered towards the bottom on on

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APPENDIX M THE CASTLE OF SLANE

APPENDIX M THE CASTLE OF SLANE

Mr Westropp says that the “great earthworks and fosses” on the Hill of Slane are mentioned in the “Life of St Patrick” ( Journ. R. S. A. I. , 1904, p. 313). What the Life really says is: “They came to Ferta Fer Fiecc,” which is translated “the graves of Fiacc’s men”; and the notes of Muirchu Maccu-Machtheni add, “which, as fables say, were dug by the slaves of Feccol Ferchertni, one of the nine Wizards” ( Tripartite Life , p. 278). It does not mention any fort, or even a hill, and though Ferta F

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APPENDIX N THE WORD “DONJON”

APPENDIX N THE WORD “DONJON”

Professor Skeat and The New English Dictionary derive this word from the Low Latin, dominionem , acc. of dominio , lordship. Leland frequently speaks of the keep as the dungeon, which of course is the same word. Its modern use for a subterranean prison seems to have arisen when the keeps were abandoned for more spacious and comfortable habitations by the noble owners, and were chiefly used as prisons. The word dunio , which, as we have seen, Lambert of Ardres used for a motte, probably comes fro

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APPENDIX O THE ARRANGEMENTS IN EARLY KEEPS

APPENDIX O THE ARRANGEMENTS IN EARLY KEEPS

We get a glimpse of these in a story given in the “Gesta Ambasiensium Dominorum,” D’Archery, Spicilegium , 278. Sulpicius the Treasurer of the Abbey of St Martin at Tours, an important personage, built a stone keep at Amboise in 1015 ( Chron. Turonense Magnum ), in place of the “wooden house” which his brother had held. In the time of Fulk Rechin (1066-1106), this keep was in the hands of the adherents of the counts of Blois. Hugh, son of Sulpicius, with two other men, hid themselves by night in

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APPENDIX P KEEPS AS RESIDENCES

APPENDIX P KEEPS AS RESIDENCES

The description of a keep which we have already given from Lambert of Ardres (Chap. VI.) is sufficient to prove that even wooden keeps in the 12th century were used as permanent residences, and this is confirmed by many scattered notices in the various chronicles of France and England. It was not till late in the 13th century that the desire for more comfortable rooms led to the building of chambers in the courtyard....

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APPENDIX Q CASTLES BUILT BY HENRY I.

APPENDIX Q CASTLES BUILT BY HENRY I.

The castles, which according to Robert de Monte, Henry I. built altogether [ ex integro ] were Drincourt, Chateauneuf-sur-Epte, Verneuil, Nonancourt, Bonmoulins, Colmemont, Pontorson, St Denis-en-Lyons, and Vaudreuil. Many of these may have been wooden castles; Chateauneuf-sur-Epte almost certainly was; it has now a round donjon on a motte. The “Tour Grise” at Verneuil is certainly not the work of Henry I., but belongs to the 13th century....

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APPENDIX R THE SO-CALLED SHELL KEEP

APPENDIX R THE SO-CALLED SHELL KEEP

We have three accounts of motte-castles from the 12th century: that of Alexander Neckham, in the treatise De Utensilibus ; that of Laurence of Durham, cited in Chapter VII., p. 147 ; and the well-known description of the castle of Marchem, also cited in Chapter VI., p. 88 . All these three describe the top of the motte as surrounded by a wall (of course of wood), within which is built a wooden tower. The account of Marchem says that it was built in the middle of the area. This supports the conje

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APPENDIX S PROFESSOR LLOYD’S “HISTORY OF WALES”

APPENDIX S PROFESSOR LLOYD’S “HISTORY OF WALES”

I regret that this valuable work did not appear until too late for me to make use of it in my chapter on Welsh Castles. It is worth while to note the following points in which Professor Lloyd’s conclusions differ from or confirm those which I have been led to adopt. Aberystwyth and Aberrheiddiol.—“After the destruction of the last Aberystwyth Castle of the older situation in 1143, the chief stronghold of the district was moved to the mouth of the Rheiddiol, a position which it ever afterwards re

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IN MANORS

IN MANORS

It has been thought best to tabulate the chief defensible area of each castle. The total area, including ditches and scarps, is liable to great variation owing to the nature of the ground. [Pg 400] [Pg 401]...

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