TAUNTON CASTLE.
TAUNTON CASTLE possesses an interest in the eyes of archæologists which its present appearance and its Norman history may not seem to justify, but which depends upon the fact that it is of English and not Norman foundation, that it dates from a period nearly two centuries earlier than any other fortress mentioned in the Saxon Chronicle, and not only is the date of its construction approximatively known, but its existing earthworks, though mutilated, are beyond question original.
The castle stands upon one of the many low hummocks of gravel, often with a base of red marl, which rise out of the extensive fen lands of this very singular district, and which, before agriculture had drained the marshes, were even more inaccessible (in military phrase were stronger ground), than even the hill fortresses of the upper country. The Thone, the river whence the town derives its name, rises by many and copious tributaries over a wide sweep of country, north, west, and south, and traversing the low land, which though neither so wet nor so extensive as many of the adjacent levels, was yet broad enough and marshy enough to serve every purpose of defence.
Here, upon the right bank of the stream, Ine, the celebrated leader and lawgiver of the West Saxons, is reputed to have established himself in the year 702, while engaged in securing his frontier against the western Britons, who, under the leading of Geraint, still maintained a footing in the broken ground east of the Tamar, upon Exmoor and among the Brendon and Quantock Hills, holding probably the camps which still remain, but little altered by the lapse of a thousand or eleven hundred years.
This seems to be the origin of the town of Taunton, and here, upon the edge of one of the inosculating branches of the sluggish stream, Ine founded his castle by throwing up banks of earth girdled with deep and formidable ditches, and no doubt further strengthened by stockades of timber, or at best by walls the workmanship of which scarcely deserved the name of masonry. Such as it was it was destroyed, that is, burned, by Queen Æthelburh in 722, who probably however left the earthworks, the better part of the defence, much as she found them.
The spot selected, resting upon the river, is covered by a loop, which has been converted into a mill stream, working a mill placed a little below the castle. This river or north front is tolerably straight and about 180 yards long. The west front, about 168 yards, is formed by what seems to have been a tributary stream called the Potwater, which here joined the river nearly at a right angle. The south and east fronts, of 340 yards, were formed by a curved watercourse, probably artificial, which connected the tributary, by a second junction, with the river, and thus completed the circuit of the defence. The enclosure was thus a sort of quadrant, the river and the brook being the radii, and the curved ditch the arc. The area thus enclosed measures about seven acres, and lies between the river and the town, which covers its east and south sides.
Within this area, occupying its north-east corner and about a quarter of its extent, is the inner court or citadel of the place, roughly rectangular, and measuring about 123 yards east and west, by 73 yards north and south. Its east and north faces rest upon the main ditch and the river, and its south and west faces are covered by a curved ditch, artificial, which gives the eastern outer ditch a second connexion with the river, and divides the outer, called “Castle Green,” from the inner court. The position was a very strong one, having the river, and beyond it a morass, towards the north, or threatened side, and to the south a ditch, in part double, and always filled with water.
The inner court is further subdivided into two parts, of which the eastern half seems to have been raised into a sort of platform upon which probably Ine’s actual residence was placed.
The late Mr. Warre, a very great authority in Somerset earthworks, speaks of a mound here, but as I cannot make out that there is any record or tradition of a mound in the technical sense, that is, a conical heap of earth, probably he calls by that name the very considerable bank and contiguous platform of earth, much of which is still seen. What occurred here, and by whom occupied, or what changes took place between the reign of Ine and the end of the eleventh century is not known, but the Normans, accustomed, as far as practicable, to occupy the Saxon seats, soon perceived the advantages held out by the position and earthworks at Taunton, and William Gifford, who held the lordship as Bishop of Winchester in the reign of Henry I., seems to have decided upon building a regular castle. His successors, bishops of Winchester, were much here, and the castle received much addition at their hands, especially in the early Decorated period, of all of which traces more or less considerable still remain. The outer ward is traversed east and west by a road upon which were two gatehouses, of which the western was till recently represented by a fragment of wall and a stone bridge across the moat. Traces of a barbican, in part of timber, were discovered a few years ago while digging on the counterscarp. Of the eastern gatehouse the remains are still considerable. It was of large size, the entrance passage being 60 feet deep, with portals at each end and at the outer end, and a large square portcullis groove. The upper floor contained a fine room, of which on the north side there remain two windows in the early Decorated style, which is that of the whole gatehouse. The gateway was placed just within the ditch, on the counterscarp or town side, on which some foundations, probably of a barbican, were laid open a few years since. The wall of the outer court is gone, save a small fragment on the south-west quarter, neither are there any of the ancient buildings remaining within the area, Bishop Fox’s school, the oldest of them, being later than the period when the defences were of much value.
The defences and contents of the inner ward are less imperfect. The masonry here did not extend actually to the river, the immediate bank of which, as at Leicester, is very low, so that the enclosed ward occupied only about two-thirds of the whole moated area. The walled part is roughly triangular, the base being the east side, and the truncated part open to the west. This area seems further to have been divided by a cross wall into two parts, the keep, hall, and gatehouse being in the western, and in the eastern, the earthworks, which favours the notion of this having been the old English citadel. These earthworks are two banks along the east and south fronts, expanding at their junction into a rectangular platform of about 80 by 120 feet. The banks have been used as terraces or ramps, the Norman wall having been built against them and along the river edge of the ditch. These banks are about 18 to 24 feet broad and about 10 feet high. Along the east face about 150 feet of the original wall remains tolerably perfect, and is about 25 feet high outside. This is returned along the river or north front, and near the angle is a buried arch at present invisible, and which may have been a postern or a sewer. From the south face the wall has recently been removed. At the south-west corner of this court is a dwelling-house, part of the wall of which is old, either Norman or Edwardian.
The smaller or west court contains the chief remains in masonry, and of these the most remarkable is the keep. This is a well-defined though mutilated tower, standing upon the enceinte wall, of which it forms the north-west angle. It is rectangular, 50 feet north and south, by 40 feet east and west, with walls about 13 feet thick. There is no chamber below ground. The basement is vaulted with a heavy barrel vault, apparently original, and round-headed. Outside are flat narrow pilaster strips, dying into the wall at about 30 feet. There are traces of Norman loops in the wall, which may have been 50 feet high, and probably included three stories. At the north-east angle is a well-staircase leading to the battlements, probably in part an Edwardian addition. The entrance is most likely to have been in the south face, no doubt on the first floor, though there is nothing left to show this.
From the keep, along the north front, the original, though much mutilated, Norman wall, with its flat pilasters and the jamb of one original window, crests the rising ground, as at Leicester, about 50 feet from the river, and, also as at Leicester, evidently formed one side of the hall. At the end of the wall, about 140 feet from the keep, is a postern, with a segmental arch, possibly in substance Norman, though mutilated.
In the centre of the south front, but at the south-east corner of this section of it, is the gatehouse, a rectangular structure, with an Edwardian portal, and some Perpendicular additions, square portcullis grooves, gates, and lodge. In the front are seen the holes for the chains supporting the drawbridge, now replaced by a permanent structure. Above the entrance passage is a chamber.
Right and left of the gatehouse the curtain extends about 70 feet, terminating a short time ago in bold drum towers, of which one is gone, and the other caps the south-west angle of the ward, and connects this front with a short curtain leading to the keep. Against this wall stands a line of buildings ranging with the gatehouse. Opposite, against the north wall, is the hall, modern as to its inner wall, fittings, and roof, but very evidently occupying the site of the original Norman hall and domestic buildings.
The south-west drum tower has been rebuilt or faced, but evidently represents the Edwardian or early Decorated works that replaced the old Norman curtain. The ditch along the west, and part of the south fronts of this ward, has been recently filled up. The drum towers, curtain, and keep stood on its edge, and formed its scarp.
Here, then, we have a combination of earthworks dating from the commencement of the eighth century; walls and keep the work of the early part of the twelfth century; and towers and gatehouses towards the end of the thirteenth century or early in the fourteenth century. Bishop Langton executed some additions here in 1490, and placed his arms outside the inner gatehouse. In 1496, the castle was taken by the Cornish rebels who rose against the close taxation of Henry VII., and here massacred the Provost of Penrhyn. Bishop Horne made further repairs here in 1557.
In the Parliamentary wars, Taunton was first occupied for the Parliament, then taken by Lord Hertford for the King, and finally retaken for the Parliament by Blake, who held it against a far superior force. The infamous Jefferies held the “Bloody Assize” in the present hall.
It has been thought that Ine’s castle was confined to the inner ward. No doubt his strong house was there, but the whole enclosure is not larger than Framlingham or other Saxon holds.
The absence of a mound is rather peculiar, and it is remarkable that the Normans should have placed this keep on the lowest ground. Altogether, looking to its very curious though scanty remains, and its very ancient history, Taunton Castle is a work of unusual interest, and it is much to the credit of the Somersetshire archæologists that the keep has been converted into a museum, and the walls and earthworks converted into an embellishment to the ancient town to which the castle unquestionably gave rise.