THE CASTLE.
The tract of high and wooded land which lies towards the Radnorshire border, between the waters of the Teme and the Lugg, converges and descends towards the east until it forms a long spit or spur of rock which terminates in the knoll now occupied by the parish church of Wigmore. This ridge—straight, steep, and well defined—is bounded on the south by a narrow valley, down which descends a brook from the high ground of Wigmore Rolls, to fall, just below the church, into the Allcox brook. To the north the ridge is still more strongly protected by the broad expanse that probably gave its termination to the name of the place, and is still called, by reduplication, Wigmore moor and lake, and Leinthal lake; formerly, as their names import, watery tracts, and which are still alternately drained and flooded by the united channels of the Clun and the Teme on their way to Ludlow.
Low on the ridge, and astride upon and occupying its whole breadth, is what remains of the castle. Those who selected the spot were attracted by an immense depression, clear, sharp, and steep, as if cut by art, which here traverses the ridge, and cuts off its eastern portion from the higher and broader ground to the west. Upon the eastern verge of this ravine is piled up a mound of earth, in form conical and about 30 feet high, above its rocky base, though 100 feet or more above the bottom of the ravine. The mound is about 30 feet diameter at its flat top. It is probable that when this was formed the natural ravine was slightly deepened, and on the near side rendered steeper by art.
Close east of the mound, and above 40 feet below its top, is a roughly oval area, about 100 feet east and west by 50 feet north and south, encircled by a bank of earth, outside of which was a ditch, which included also the mound, and was probably the work thrown up by King Edward, and so gallantly held against the Danes. It is very strong, the ground falling away steeply on every side, and especially to the north and west. Upon the mound stood the Norman shell keep; the oval contained within a wall, most of which remains, was the inner ward. The mound and its appended oval stood within, and partly on the edge of a far larger area, which included the slopes, and extended nearly to the base of the hill towards the south and south-east, and on those sides protected the citadel. Towards the north and the west the steepness of the ground rendered a second line of defence unnecessary, and the mound and its oval formed there a part of the outer enceinte. This second area was also covered by a ditch which descended from the south side of the mound, and from the north-east part of the oval, and thus formed the outer ward of the castle, in which probably were pastured the cattle driven off by the Danes. The Normans enclosed this also within a wall. This ward was covered by a deep and wide ditch, wholly artificial; and this, again, at one point, by a second ditch across the ridge, towards the south. Within the outer ward, attached to the southern and south-eastern slope of the inner ward, was an enclosure of moderate area, taken, of course, out of the outer ward. The earthworks of this are slight, and it seems to be wholly of Norman origin, and intended as a middle ward.
Thus, then, the original work was composed of a mound with a deep ravine to its west, and placed on the edge of, and in part within, an oval area on its east, the whole encircled by a common ditch. Then, as the mound stood on the edge of the inner ward, so the mound and inner ward together stood on the edge of the outer ward, which covered them to the south and east, and included an area strong indeed, but which required a considerable garrison to defend it. The outermost and partial ditch, as well as the middle ward, were probably later works.
The Norman who first took possession of these formidable works evidently laid his additions upon the English lines, either he or his successor superseding the timber palisades by walls of masonry. Upon the summit of the mound he built, as the foundations still show, a circular or polygonal tower as a keep. From thence a curtain wall sprang from its opposite sides and encircled the small eastern area, forming the inner ward. The wall was so placed that it became a revetment to the old bank, which thus took a place as a sort of ramp within the area. The apex of the area, that is, the end opposite to the mound, was capped by what appears to have been a round tower, of which only a heap of ruin remains. North of this, the curtain, which was the outer wall, is still seen to be of considerable strength. What remains is about 6 feet thick and 30 feet high, and is strengthened outside by a square mural buttress, or bastion. To the south a large window-opening and some cross-walls indicate a domestic building. At the south-west angle, next to the mound, is a fragment of a lofty tower containing a well-stair. This marks the junction of one end of the outer curtain with the wall of the inner ward, as the ruined round tower does of its other end. Near this, in the south wall, much choked with rubbish, is an opening with a low, pointed arch, once the gateway between the inner and the outer ward, and which, combined with various indications to be observed in the remaining fragments of the curtain and its tower, shows that, whatever may have been the Norman defences of this ward, they were removed and replaced by what is now seen in the Decorated period.
The tower, of which a tall fragment remains on the south-western side of the inner ward, marks the point of junction between the wall of that ward, the keep, and the wall of the outer ward. This latter wall, descending the steep natural slope, protects the inner ward gate from the west, and shows what appears to have been a postern, and beyond it a rectangular mural tower of bold projection, and marked outside by a bold cordon above its base. This is evidently an original Norman tower. Beyond it, being the southern wall of the ward, the Norman work is distinctly seen. The wall was in process of being rebuilt, and its imperfect junction with the new work is apparent. Of this later date is a curious large rectangular building, on the wall, of bold projection, and divided by a cross-wall into an eastern and a western chamber. It was of two floors, and below them a basement which has been vaulted over and fitted with exterior steps and doorways in the Perpendicular period. The building itself is early and excellent Decorated, as shown especially by the form and detail of a pair of two-light windows. From this tower the curtain, of the same date, extends to the great gatehouse which is to the south-east. This is much broken. It is rectangular, with a portal-vault below and two chambers above; one for the working of the outer, and one for that of the inner portcullis. The rib of the central portal remains, with a drop-arch and a square portcullis groove. In the inner chamber is seen part of a large fireplace with a good Decorated hood. Only one portal-arch remains, but from its position it is pretty clear that there were three. The archway is much choked with rubbish. From the great gatehouse the curtain curves sharply towards the north, enclosing the east face of the ward. Upon it is a bold half-round tower, of which the lower part, well seen from the ditch, and probably solid, is very perfect. It rises only to the level of the ward. Thence the curtain turns the north-east corner of the ward to the remains of a polygonal tower, or more probably a square tower with the angles boldly chamfered; and from this it ascended the slope so as to join the inner ward at its north-east angle, where the traces have been mentioned of a large and probably round tower; and thus is completed the circuit of the outer ward.
The middle ward is less easily traced. It seems to have been concentric with the outer ward; like it, appended to the south-east face of the inner ward, but of much smaller area, and much of that area occupied by the steep hill-side.
The most considerable remains of its wall are towards the south-east, and it probably had, on this side, a ditch of its own. The hall and other of the domestic buildings seem to have stood here, on the level part, judging from the very rude outline of the foundations.
Besides these defences, along the east front of the works of the outer ward is a second ditch, carried across the ridge, here very low. Between the two ditches is a platform of no great breadth, the rear of which forms the counterscarp of the outer ward ditch, while the front is scarped into three solid half-round bastions of earth, the outline of which is followed by the counterscarp of the outer ditch. The figure of this earthwork and the freshness of the cutting show that the whole is a late addition, probably by the latter Mortimers, to cover the foot of the outer wall, and, no doubt, strongly palisaded. Again, in advance about a hundred yards on this front, and lower down the hill, a deep ditch has been cut across the ridge, and its contents thrown inwards as a high and steep bank. Again, in advance of this line of defence, the hill, for 60 yards or 70 yards, is scarred with other earthworks of an uncertain and subordinate character and purpose, but evidently old.
A good deal of masonry remains standing in various parts of the castle area, and, no doubt, the main foundations of the whole fortress could, with a little labour, be exposed. Although most of this masonry is of Decorated date, there is evidence that a good deal of it is built upon the Norman outlines; and probably, if search were made, a good deal of buried Norman work would be exposed; and it would be shown, as indeed it now is, to some extent, that the Norman castle covered pretty much the area of the present works.
With the exception of the Norman tower and wall above mentioned, the masonry above ground seems of Decorated date and of excellent character. Enough remains to show, that with the slight exceptions already mentioned, the whole castle was rebuilt in the Decorated period in the earlier part of the fourteenth century. The work is of a very substantial character, and the appearance of the castle when complete, with its large enceinte, deep ditches, and lofty inner ward and keep, must have been grand. The main approach lay from the east. The road branched off from the Watling-street and was carried along the south side of the ridge, between the high ground and the brook, on a sort of shelf commanded by the works along the ridge.
It is evident that the earliest fortress was confined to the mound and the small area immediately attached to it, but that the defences of the outer area were speedily added to provide space for flocks, herds, and herdsmen, and a sufficient garrison. The defences, in so thickly wooded a country, would probably be of timber.
Whether the earliest Norman lord erected works in masonry is doubtful; probably not. Probably these were added by his successor at the end of the eleventh or early in the twelfth century. So protected it must have been very nearly impregnable. The walls of the keep and inner ward were quite out of the reach of any catapult, ram, or temporary wooden tower, owing to the steepness of the ground outside. Probably also the wet character of the low ground to the north and south would effectually cover these fronts, as the ravine would the west front. To the east the ground was firm and the country around open, but here the artificer’s defences were multiplied.
The parish church was no doubt built by the Mortimers, though it contains no record of them either in tombs, arms, or inscriptions. It is of large size, and much of the north wall of the nave at its west end is of herring-bone masonry, and an unusually extensive example of it. The opposite or south wall, though faced inside and out with modern plaster, exhibits, high up, a Norman loop, and is evidently of the same, rather early Norman date. It is curious that a rural church of the Norman period should have been laid out with walls so high and a span so considerable. Possibly this was intended for the seat of the religious house which Ralph, the first Mortimer, founded before his death, and which was known as Wigmore Abbey.