The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles.

by Ella Sophia Armitage

Fig. 36.

Wigmore, Herefordshire ([Fig. 36]).—We have already referred to the absurdity of identifying this place with the Wigingamere of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.[751] We have the strongest indication that the Norman castle at Wigmore was a new erection, since Domesday Book tells us that William FitzOsbern built it on waste land called Mereston.[752] This express statement disposes of the fable in the Fundationis Historia of Wigmore Priory, that the castle of Wigmore had belonged to Edric the Wild, and was rebuilt by Ralph Mortimer.[753] Wigmore had only been a small manor of two taxable hides in Saxon times. Whereas it had then been unproductive, at the date of the Survey there were two ploughs in the demesne, and the borough attached to the castle yielded 7l. Here we have another instance of the planting of a borough close to a castle, and of the revenue which was thus obtained.

There is a very large and high motte at Wigmore Castle, of oval shape, on a headland which has been cut off by a deep ditch. The earthen banks of its first fortification still remain, enclosing a small ward, but on top of them is a wall in masonry, and the ruins of a polygonal keep;[754] also the remains of two mural towers. Half-way down the end of the headland, below the motte, is a small square court, which may have been the original bailey; below it, again, is a larger half-moon bailey furnished with walls and towers. But the whole area covered is only 1 acre. The masonry is none of it earlier than the Decorated period, except one tower in the bailey wall which may be late Norman.

Winchester.
(From a plan by W. Godson, 1750.)

Fig. 37.

Winchester, Hants.—We include Winchester among the castles mentioned or alluded to in Domesday Book, because we think it can be proved that the domus regis mentioned under Alton and Clere is the castle built by William outside the west gate of the city, where the present County Hall is now almost the only remaining relic of any castle at all.[755] Under the head of “Aulton” we are told that the abbot of Hyde had unjustly gotten the manor in exchange for the king’s house, because by the testimony of the jurors it was already the king’s house.[756] That excambio domus regis should read excambio terræ domus regis is clear from the corresponding entry under Clere, where the words are pro excambio terræ in qua domus regis est in civitate.[757] The matter is put beyond a doubt by the confirmatory charter of Henry I. to Hyde Abbey, where the king states that his father gave Aulton and Clere to Hyde Abbey in exchange for the land on which he built his hall in the city of Winchester.[758] Where, then, was this hall, which was clearly new, since fresh land was obtained for it, and which must not therefore be sought on the site of the palace of the Saxon kings? The Liber Winton, a roll of Henry I.’s time, says that twelve burgesses’ houses had been destroyed and the land was now occupied by the king’s house.[759] Another passage says that a whole street outside the west gate was destroyed when the king made his ditch.[760] These passages justify the conclusion of Mr Smirke that the king’s house at Winchester was neither more nor less than the castle which existed until the 17th century outside the west gate.[761] Probably the reason why it is spoken of so frequently in the earliest documents as the king’s house or hall, instead of the castle, is that in this important city, the ancient capital of Wessex, where the king “wore his crown” once a year, William built, besides the usual wooden keep on the motte, a stone hall in the bailey, of size and dignity corresponding to the new royalty.[762] In fact, the hall so magnificently transformed by Henry III., and known to be the old hall of the castle, can be seen on careful examination to have still its original Norman walls and other traces of early Norman work.[763] The palace of the Saxon kings stood, where we might expect to find the palace of native princes, in the middle of the city; according to Milner it was on the site of the present Square.[764] William may have repaired this palace, but that he constructed two royal houses, a palace and a castle, is highly improbable. The castle became the residence of the Norman kings, and the Saxon palace appears to have been neglected.[765] We see with what caution the Conqueror placed his castle at the royal city of Wessex without the walls. Milner tells us that there was no access to it from the city without passing through the west gate.[766] The motte of the castle appears to have been standing in his time, as he speaks of “the artificial mount on which the keep stands.”[767] It is frequently mentioned in mediæval documents as the beumont or beau mont. It was surrounded by its own ditch.[768] The bailey, if Speed’s map is correct, was triangular in shape. With its ditches and banks the castle covered 6 acres, according to the commissioners who reported on it in Elizabeth’s reign; but the inner area cannot have been more than 4½ acres. We may infer from the sums spent on this castle by Henry II., that he was the first to give it walls and towers of stone; the Pipe Rolls show entries to the amount of 1150l. during the course of his reign; the work of the walls is frequently specified, and stone is mentioned.

Domesday Book does not inform us whether the value of Winchester had risen or fallen since the Conquest.

(From Ashmole’s “Order of the Garter.”)