ST. LEONARD’S TOWER, WEST MALLING.
THIS tower, apparently the earliest built and the last part remaining of the residence of Bishop Gundulf, is probably one of the first Norman keeps, perhaps one of the earliest military towers in masons’ work, after the departure of the Romans, constructed in England. With these pretensions, it deserves more attention than it has hitherto met with.
It stands about a quarter of a mile south-west of the parish church of Town, or West Malling, in Kent, the plain heavy tower of which is also attributed to the bishop; and a little further from the remains of the religious house founded by the same skilful and magnificent prelate, and a remaining part of which seems also to have been his actual work.
The tower stands upon a ledge of horizontally-bedded sandstone rock, of a friable character, which juts out from and forms the east side of a short narrow combe, the defence of the castle on its western front, and which opens upon a stream tributary to the Medway, which stream receives a further addition from a spring which rises from beneath the rock about 100 yards south of the tower, and has been employed to strengthen the defences of the place on that side.
The tower is a very plain rectangular structure of the early Norman type, about 32 feet square at its base, and about 60 feet high on its northern and eastern, and about 70 feet on the two other faces; the difference being produced by the greater depth of the rocky shelf. The walls rise from a plain plinth, the top of which is at the ground level on the east face and north-east angle, and 10 feet above the level on the south and west, so that the plinth is on these sides 10 feet high. The tower is flanked at the end of each face by a pilaster strip, which rises from the plinth, and each adjacent pair meet and cover the contained angle. At three of the angles these strips have 6-inch projection, and are 3 feet 6 inches wide, reduced by two sets-off to 2 feet 6 inches at the base of the parapet, into which they probably died. The pilasters covering the fourth, or north-east angle, are 7 feet broad, and of 18 inch projection. These also have two sets-off. This increased breadth and projection is to accommodate a turnpike-stair, which rises from the base to the roof, and was evidently crowned by a square turret, but whether there were turrets at the other angles is doubtful, though, if present, they must have been of rather smaller dimensions. In the centre of the west face is another pilaster, 3 feet broad, and of 6 inch projection. This also rises from the plinth, but stops at the level of the uppermost floor, at the base of the window, of which it forms the cill. Of the sets-off, that at the level of the first floor is carried round the tower; the upper one is confined to the pilasters. The parapet is gone, and the wall at the head of the staircase, being weakened by it, is somewhat broken down. The tower wall is described as battering, or inclining inwards; if so, the degree must be very slight, for its appearance is vertical, the set-off reducing it by about 6 inches or 8 inches, so that at the summit the dimensions cannot be less than 30 feet square, and the wall appears, from below, to be about 6 feet thick.
The basement is without windows, but in the south face, near the east end, was a round-headed doorway, quite plain, without a portcullis or any moulding, and of about 3 feet 6 inches opening. This is now, and evidently has long been, walled up, so that any rebate it may contain for the door is concealed. It opened on the top of the rock, and probably was approached by a wooden exterior stair, which must have been 10 feet high. The present entrance is opposite to it at the same level, which, there, is that of the ground. This seems to have been a later opening, broken through where the wall was reduced in thickness by a sort of lobby at the foot of the staircase. This is a very common treatment with Norman keeps, the ordinary doorway becoming inconvenient, and the times ceasing to demand extraordinary precaution.
The first floor has a plain round-headed flat-sided opening, that is, without splay, or what in the North is called flanning, placed in the centre of the north, south, and east faces. On the south face this window is in the centre of a plain arcade, having on each side of it two similar arches, about 3 feet broad and 2 feet deep. The singular thing is that these niches are in the outer face of the wall, not, as would seem natural, and as occurs at Chepstow, in the inner face. In the west wall are four similar niches, but the central space is solid, occupied by the pilaster. There are two narrow round-headed loops on the north face, lighting the staircase at two levels.
The second and upper floor has four windows, one in each face. These are round-headed, quite plain, flat-sided, of about 4 feet opening and 8 feet high to the springing. The three floors seem to be,—the basement, 15 feet high; the first or main floor, 30 feet; and the upper floor, 15 feet. The floors were all of timber. There is no visible fireplace, nor do there seem to be any mural chambers or galleries. The walls at the base are 8 feet thick. The staircase communicated with each floor, and with the roof. The line of the lower floor cut off the head of the original entrance doorway, as at Chepstow.
The masonry throughout is of a very sound and solid, though of a rude description. It is evidently original, and does not appear ever to have been repaired or even pointed. It is of rubble, the stones being pretty much as they came from the quarry, of all shapes, but rarely containing more than a foot cube. The work is roughly but decidedly coursed, with a slight tendency to the herring-bone pattern. The joints are very open, and the mortar has been very freely used. The quoins and window-dressings are of a tufaceous ashlar, with wide joints.
It is difficult to form any safe conclusion as to the plan or area of the castle, of which this tower was certainly the keep. No doubt it lay to the north-east and east, where the ground forms a table-land a little above the keep level, and where there are traces of some rather extensive earthworks. There is a short piece of curtain wall projecting a few yards from the south-east angle of the keep, and pointing eastwards. It looks of early masonry, but of rather later date than the keep, against which it is built without bond. It is about 25 feet high. According to this evidence the south and west faces, at the least, must have been the exterior, which, considering the arcades on their faces, and the position of the entrance-door, is curious. Probably the other end of the curtain abutted upon the north-east angle, but if so it did not bond, and has been destroyed, leaving no trace of its presence. This keep stands in three separate premises, two of which are, or rather were when these notes were taken, jealously closed. The only entrance is by the modern door, which was fastened and the key judiciously mislaid; nor, at that time, was there a ladder to be found within reach of the tower. The garden containing the earthworks, and within which probably stood the hall and lodgings, was attached to a private lunatic asylum. It is much to be desired that the Kent Archæological Society should take this curious tower in hand, and obtain proper plans and elevations of so very remarkable a building, with a good photograph of its masonry.