The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles.

by Ella Sophia Armitage

Dover.
(From a plan in the British Museum, 1756.)

Fig. 14.

Dover, Kent ([Fig. 14]).—The Norman historian, William of Poitiers, tells us that the castrum of Dover was built by Harold at his own expense.[391] This comes from the celebrated story of the oath of Harold to William, a story of which Mr Freeman says that there is no portion of our history more entangled in the mazes of contradictory and often impossible statements.[392] But let us assume the statement about the castrum to be true; the question then to be answered is this: of what nature was that castrum? We never are told by English chroniclers that Harold built any castles, though we do hear of his fortifying towns. The present writer would answer this question, tentatively indeed, and under correction, by the theory that the castrum constructed or repaired by Harold was the present outer rampart of Dover Castle, which encloses an area of about 34 acres, and may have enclosed more, if it was formerly complete on the side towards the sea.[393] The evidence in support of this theory is as follows:—

1. There certainly was a burh on the top of the cliff at Dover in Saxon times, as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us that in 1048 Eustace of Boulogne, after coming to Dover, and slaying householders there, went up to the burh, and slew people both within and without, but was repulsed by the burh-men.[394] There was then a burh, and valiant burh-men on the cliff at Dover in Edward the Confessor’s reign. But the whole analogy of the word burh makes it certain that by the time of Edward it meant a fortified town.[395]

2. That the burh at Dover was of the nature of a town, with houses in it, is confirmed by the poem of Guy of Amiens, who says that when King William entered the castrum, he ordered the English to evacuate their houses.[396] William of Poitiers also states that there was an innumerable multitude of people in the castle,[397] though he may refer to a multitude gathered there for safety.

3. Though the whole of the outer enceinte is generally credited to Hubert de Burgh in Henry III.’s reign, the truth probably is that he built the first stone walls and towers on the outer rampart; but the existence of this earthen rampart shows that there was a wooden wall upon it previously. It is not improbable that it was for the repair of this wooden wall that so much timber was sent to Dover in the reigns of Richard I. and John.[398] Dering, who was lieutenant of the castle in 1629, records the tradition that the tower in the outer enceinte, called Canons’ Gate, dates from Saxon times (of course this could only be true of a wooden predecessor of the stone tower), and that Godwin’s Tower, on the east side of the outer vallum, existed as a postern before the Conquest.[399] Nearly all the towers on this wall were supported by certain manors held on the tenure of castle-guard, and eight of them still retain the names of eight knights to whom William is said to have given lands on this tenure. Mr Round has shown that the Warda Constabularii of Dover Castle can be traced back to the Conquest, and that it is a mere legend that it was given as a fief to a Fienes. He remarks that the nine wards of the castle named in the Red Book of the Exchequer are all reproduced in the names still attached to the towers. “This coincidence of testimony leads us to believe that the names must have been attached at a very early period; and looking at the history of the families named, it cannot have been later than that of Henry II.”[400] May it not have been even earlier? Eight of these names are attached to towers on the outer circuit,[401] and five of them are found as landholders in Kent in Domesday Book.

4. William of Poitiers further tells us that when the duke had taken the castle, he remained there eight days, to add the fortifications which were wanting.[402] What was wanting to a Norman eye in Anglo-Saxon fortifications, as far as we know them, was a citadel; and without laying too much stress on the chronicler’s eight days, we may assume that the short time spent by William at Dover was just enough for the construction of a motte and bailey, inside the castrum of Harold, but crowned by wooden buildings only.

Taking these things together, we venture to assume that the inner court in which the keep of Dover stands, represents an original motte, or at any rate an original citadel, added to the castle by William I. Whether what now remains of this motte is in part artificial, we do not pretend to say; it may be that it was formed simply by digging a deep ditch round the highest knoll of ground within the ancient ramparts.[403] Anyhow, it is still in effect a motte, and a large one, containing not only the magnificent keep, but a small ward as well. That this keep was the work of Henry II. there can be no manner of doubt; the Pipe Rolls show that he spent more than £2000 on the turris or keep of Dover Castle between the years 1181 and 1187, and Benedict of Peterborough mentions the building of the keep at this date.[404] The curtain around the motte may also be reckoned to be his work originally, as the cingulum is spoken of along with the turris in the accounts. Modern alterations have left little of Norman character in this curtain which shows at a glance, and the gateways (one of which remains) belong to a later period.