Colchester; Cross-wall
A very remarkable example of “herring-bone” walling is the curtain-wall at Tamworth ([48]). The castle was founded by Robert Marmion after the Conquest on the low ground at the meeting of the Tame and Anker, the town, the fortified burh of Æthelflæd, being on higher ground to the north. Marmion’s fortress took the mount-and-bailey form. The bailey was a triangular platform of earth, raised artificially above the level of the river bank, with its apex towards the confluence of the streams. The mount was on its west side, and was divided from it by a ditch. The defences on the side next the town were of stone. Here the curtain-wall remains in very perfect condition, crossing the ditch and climbing the mount, with a sloping rampart-walk along the top. The inner face is composed entirely of “herring-bone” courses, alternating with one, two, and sometimes three, layers of thin horizontal stones. This appearance of more than one horizontal course is very unusual.[123] It is obvious that the site, being commanded by the town, would be materially strengthened by a stone wall on that side: on the south side, scarping and ditching would have been sufficient, and there is no trace of stone-work of an early period here. The original entrance was at the north-eastern angle of the enclosure, and probably took the form of a stone gatehouse.[124] Other instances of “herring-bone” work in curtain-walls that may be mentioned here are at Corfe, Hastings, and Lincoln. Corfe was built on an isolated hill, which was scarped and ditched, something after the manner of a “contour” fort of early days: the portion of the curtain in which “herring-bone” coursing is found follows the natural line of the edge of the hill. Hastings is a fortress on a steep promontory: the mount, on the east side of the enclosure, was defended by a deep ditch, and covered by a large outer bailey with formidable earthworks. The curtain, on the east and north sides of the inner ward, is chiefly of the thirteenth century; but part of the north curtain, forming the north wall of the castle chapel, is of “herring-bone” construction. Lincoln, as we have seen, was a large mount-and-bailey fortress, surrounded by earthworks, which, on the west side, enclosed portions of the wall of the Roman city. “Herring-bone” masonry is seen here and there in the west and north curtains, which have been raised on the top of the earthen banks.[125]
Chepstow; Hall
The battlemented parapet with which the curtain-wall of a castle is usually crowned, generally may be assigned, in its present state, to a later repair and heightening of the curtain. This is the case at Lincoln, where the parapet and upper part of the wall are of the thirteenth century. It has been seen that the edict of Lillebonne in 1080 forbade the defence of the curtain by flanking towers,[126] rampart-walks, and other aids to defensive warfare; and, as a matter of fact, the full development of the fortification of the enceinte belongs to a later period. At the same time, towers projecting beyond the line of the curtain are found in some of our early Norman castles of stone. The line of the early curtain at Richmond is unbroken by contemporary towers, and closely follows the edge of the rock on which it is built. But at Ludlow ([96]) where the inner ward is the original castle, founded probably by Roger de Lacy after 1085, the curtain is flanked by four original towers in addition to the gatehouse, which has been described. The shape of the ward is that of a triangle with convex sides, the base of which, on the side of the outer ward and the town, faces south and west. Some thirty feet to the east of the gatehouse, a tower, in the basement of which an oven was inserted at a later date, capped the south-west angle of the enclosure, projecting southwards as far as the edge of the ditch. The west curtain continued in a line with the west wall of this tower for some sixty feet, until it was broken by a small postern tower. At the apex of the triangle, projecting to the north-west, was another tower, the remaining tower being at the north-east angle, with its north wall in a line with the north curtain. All these towers are, roughly speaking, rectangular in shape, but the outer angles of the north-east and north-west towers are chamfered. The original openings were round-headed loops with wide inward splays. Although the curtain was thus supplied with several projections, more towers would be needed to flank it perfectly, and large portions of the wall, particularly on the north and east sides, were left without more protection than could be given by their own strength. Oxford castle is another instance of early walling, where the tall rampart tower which commanded the river and the castle mill still remains.[127]
Chepstow; Plan
LUDLOW CASTLE: inner bailey