Dudley, Staffordshire ([Fig. 15]).—William Fitz Ansculf held Dudley at the time of the Survey, “and there is his castle.”[410] Mr Clark appears to accept the dubious tradition of a Saxon Dodda, who first built this castle in the 8th century, since he speaks of Dudley as “a great English residence.”[411] This tradition, however, is not supported by Domesday Book, which shows Dudley to have been only a small and unimportant manor before the Conquest. The strong position of the hill was no doubt the reason why the Norman placed his castle there. There is no Norman masonry in the present ruins. The earliest work is that of the keep on the motte, a rectangular tower with round corner turrets, attributed by Mr W. St John Hope to about 1320. The first castle was demolished by Henry II. in 1175,[412] and an attempt to restore it in 1218 was stringently countermanded.[413] The case of Dudley is one of those which proves that Henry II. destroyed some lawful castles in 1175 as well as the unlawful ones. In 1264 a license to restore it was granted to Roger de Somery, in consideration of his devotion to the king’s cause in the Barons’ War.[414] The whole area of the castle, including the motte, but not including the works at the base of the hill on which it stands, is 1¾ acres. The bailey is an irregular oval, following the hill top. Dudley is an instance in which the value of the manor has gone down instead of up since the erection of the castle; this may perhaps be laid to the account of the devastation caused through the Staffordshire insurrection of 1069.
Dunster, Somerset ([Fig. 15]).—Called Torre in Domesday Book. “There William de Moion has his castle.”[415] The motte here appears to be a natural rock or tor, whose summit has been levelled and its sides scarped by art. About 80 feet below the top is a (roughly) half-moon bailey, itself a shelf on the side of the hill; there is another and much smaller shelf at the opposite end.[416] Some foundations found in the S.W. corner of the upper ward appear to indicate a former stone keep.[417] Dunster was only a small manor of half a hide before the Conquest, but afterwards its value tripled. There was a borough as well as a castle.[418] The castle became the caput baroniæ of the De Moions, to whom the Conqueror gave fifty-six manors in different parts of the county. There is not the slightest reason to suppose that the site was fortified before the Conquest. Mr Clark remarks that “it is remarkable that no mouldings or fragments of Norman ornament have been dug up in or about the site, although there is original Norman work in the parish church.” The simple explanation, probably, is that the first castle of De Moion was of wood, although on a site where it would have been possible to build in stone from the first, as it does not appear that any part of the motte is artificial. The area of the bailey is 1¾ acres. The value of Dunster had risen at the date of Domesday.[419]
Durham.
Fig. 16.
Durham ([Fig. 16]).—The castle here was first built by the Conqueror, on his return from his expedition against Scotland in 1072.[420] It was intended as a strong residence for the bishop, through whom William hoped to govern this turbulent part of the country. He placed it on the neck of the lofty peninsula on which the cathedral stands. The motte of the Conqueror still remains, and so does the chapel[421] which he built in the bailey; probably the present court of the castle, though crowded now with buildings, represents the outline of the original bailey.[422] The present shell keep on the motte was built by Bishop Hatfield in Edward III.’s reign,[423] but has been extensively modernised. There can be little doubt that up to 1345 there were only wooden buildings on the motte, as the writer was informed by Canon Greenwell that no remains of older stone-work than the 14th century had been found there. It is so seldom that we get any contemporary description of a castle of this kind, that it seems worth while to translate the bombastic verse in which Laurence, Prior of Durham, described that of Durham in Stephen’s reign:[424]
“Not far hence [from the north road into the city] a tumulus of rising earth explains the flatness of the excavated summit, explains the narrow field on the flattened vertex, which the apex of the castle occupies with very pleasing art. On this open space the castle is seated like a queen; from its threatening height, it holds all that it sees as its own. From its gate, the stubborn wall rises with the rising mound,[425] and rising still further, makes towards the comfort (amæna) of the keep. But the keep, compacted together, rises again into thin air, strong within and without, well fitted for its work, for within the ground rises higher by three cubits than without—ground made sound by solid earth. Above this, a stalwart house[426] springs yet higher than the [shell] keep, glittering with splendid beauty in every part; four posts are plain, on which it rests, one post at each strong corner.[427] Each face is girded by a beautiful gallery, which is fixed into the warlike wall.[428] A bridge, rising from the chapel [in the bailey] gives a ready ascent to the ramparts, easy to climb; starting from them, a broad way makes the round of the top of the wall, and this is the usual way to the top of the citadel.... The bridge is divided into easy steps, no headlong drop, but an easy slope from the top to the bottom. Near the [head of the] bridge, a wall descends from the citadel, turning its face westward towards the river.[429] From the river’s lofty bank it turns away in a broad curve to meet the field [i.e., Palace Green]. It is no bare plot empty of buildings that this high wall surrounds with its sweep, but one containing goodly habitations.[430] There you will find two vast palaces built with porches, the skill of whose builders the building well reveals. There, too, the chapel stands out beautifully raised on six pillars, not over vast, but fair enough to view. Here chambers are joined to chambers, house to house, each suited to the purpose that it serves.... There is a building in the middle of the castle which has a deep well of abundant water.... The frowning gate faces the rainy south, a gate that is strong, high-reaching, easily held by the hand of a weakling or a woman. The bridge is let down for egress,[431] and thus the way goes across the broad moat. It goes to the plain which is protected on all sides by a wall, where the youth often held their joyous games. Thus the castellan, and the castle artfully placed on the high ridge, defend the northern side of the cathedral. And from this castle a strong wall goes down southwards, continued to the end of the church.”[432]
The original bailey of this castle covers 1 acre.
Ely, Cambridgeshire ([Fig. 17]).—This castle was built by William I. in 1070, when he was repressing the last struggle of the English under the heroic Hereward. The monks of Ely felt it a sore grievance that he placed the castle within their own bounds.[433] Both this castle and the one built by William at Aldreth, to defend the passage into the Isle of Ely, had a continuous existence, as they were both refortified by Nigel, Bishop of Ely in Stephen’s reign, and Ely Castle was besieged and taken by Stephen.[434] The earthworks of this castle still exist, to the south of the Minster. There is a fine motte with an oval bailey, of which the banks and ditches are traceable in parts. The area of the bailey is 2½ acres. Of Aldreth or Aldrey there appear to be no remains.
The value of the manor of Ely was £33 in the Confessor’s reign; it fell to £20 after the devastations of the Conquest, but had risen again to £30 at the time of the Survey.[435]