The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles.

by Ella Sophia Armitage

Fig. 38.

Windsor ([Fig. 38]).—Here we have another of the interesting cases in which the geld due from the tenant of a manor is lessened on account of a castle having occupied a portion of the land.[769] The Survey tells us that the castle of Windsor sits in half a hide belonging to the manor of Clewer, which had become William’s property as part of the spoils of Harold. It was now held of the king by a Norman tenant-in-chief, but whereas it was formerly rated as five hides it was now (that is, probably, since the castle was built) rated as four and a half hides. Of course we are not to suppose that the castle occupied the whole half hide, which might be some 60 acres; but it extinguished the liability of that portion. At Windsor, however, we have no occasion to press this argument as a proof that the castle was new, since it is well established that the palace of the Saxon kings was at least 2 miles from the present castle and town, in the village long known as Old Windsor, which fell into decay as the town of Windsor sprang up under the Norman castle.[770] The manor of Windsor was given by Edward the Confessor to the convent of Westminster, but recovered by the Conqueror.[771] But as the Survey shows us, he did not build his castle in the manor of Windsor, but in that of Clewer. He built it for a hunting-seat,[772] and it may have been for the purpose of recovering forest rights that he resumed possession of Old Windsor; but he placed his castle in the situation which he thought best for defence. For even a hunting-seat in Norman times was virtually a castle, as many other instances show.

It is needless to state that there is no masonry at Windsor of the time of the Conqueror, or even of the time of his son Henry I., in spite of the statement of Stowe that Henry “new builded the castle of Windsor.” This statement may perhaps be founded on a passage in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which says that Henry held his court for the first time in the New Windsor in 1110. Perhaps the Chronicle here refers to the borough of New Windsor, as an entry in the Pipe Roll of Henry I. seems to show that he was the first to enclose the burgus of Windsor.[773] For it is probable that the first stone castle at Windsor was built by Henry II., who spent £1670 on it in the course of his reign. One of his first acts after his accession was an exchange of land at Windsor, which seems to have been for the purpose of a vineyard, and was possibly the origin of the second bailey.[774] At present the position of the motte is central to the rest of the castle, but this is so unusual that it suggests the idea that the upper ward is the oldest, and that the motte stood on its outer edge. Henry II. surrounded the castle with a wall, at a cost of about 128l.[775] The other entries in the Pipe Rolls probably refer to the first stone shell on the motte, and there is little doubt that the present Round Tower, though its height has been raised in modern times, and its masonry re-dressed and re-pointed so as to destroy all appearance of antiquity, is in the main of Henry II.’s building. The frequent payments for stone show the nature of Henry’s work.

Although so much masonry was put up in Henry II.’s reign, the greater part of what is now visible is not older than the time of Henry III. The lower bailey seems to have been enlarged in his reign, as the castle ditch was extended towards the town, and compensation given for houses taken down.[776] The upper (probably the original) ward is rectangular in shape, and with the motte and its ditches covers about 6½ acres.[777] The state apartments, a chapel, and the Hall of St George, are in the upper ward, showing that this was the site of the original hall and chapel of the castle. The charter of agreement between Stephen and Henry in 1153 speaks of the motte of Windsor as equivalent to the castle.[778] Repairs of the motte are mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Henry II.[779]

The value of the manor of Clewer had fallen since the Conquest; that of Windsor, which was worth 15l. T. R. E., but after the Conquest fell to 7l., was again worth 15l. at the date of the Survey.[780]

Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire.—William I. built a castle here in 1072, after suppressing the revolt of Hereward, in order to hold in check the Cambridgeshire fen country.[781] There is an early mention of it in the Register of Thorney Abbey. This castle, after being several times rebuilt, is now completely destroyed, and “several rows of elegant houses built on the site.” Nevertheless, there still remain distinct traces of the motte-and-bailey pattern in the gardens which now occupy the site of the original castle of King William; the present Crescent probably follows the line of the ditch. The meagre indications preserved in casual accounts confirm this. There was an inner castle of about 2 acres, just the area of the present garden enclosure, and an outer court, probably an addition, of some 4 acres.[782] Both areas were moated. Weston, a prisoner who was confined in the keep of this castle in the 17th century, has left an account of his captivity, in which he casually mentions that the keep or dungeon stood upon a high terrace, from which he could overlook the outer bailey, and was surrounded by a moat filled with water.[783]

The castle is not mentioned in Domesday, but as might be expected in a district which had been so ravaged by war, the value of the manor had fallen.

Worcester.—This borough, as we have seen, was fortified by Ethelfleda and her husband Ethelred in the 9th century. That the fortifications thus erected were those of a city and not of a castle is shown with sufficient clearness by the remarkable charter of this remarkable pair, in which they declare that they have built the burh at Worcester to shelter all the people, and the churches, and the bishop.[784] The castle is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1088, and it is to be noted that it is styled the king’s castle. Urse d’Abitot, the Norman sheriff of Worcester, has the credit of having built the first castle, and Malmesbury relates that he seized part of the monks’ cemetery for the bailey.[785] The monks, however, held on to their right, and in the first year of Henry III. the bailey was restored to them by the guardians of the young king, the motte being reserved for the king’s use.[786] The first wooden castle was burnt in 1113.[787] The tower or keep which succeeded it, and which was repaired by Henry II.,[788] may have been either of stone or wood; but in the order of John, that the gateway of the castle, which is of wood, is to be made of stone, we get a hint of the gradual transformation of the castle from a wooden to a stone fortress.[789]

Worcester Castle was outside the town, from Speed’s map, and was near the Severn. The area now called College Green was no doubt the outer ward of the castle, which was restored to the convent by Henry III. The tower called Edgar’s Tower was built by the monks as the gatehouse to their newly conceded close.[790] From the map given by Green, this outer bailey appears to have been roughly square; but there was also a small oblong inner ward, retained by the king, where the gaol was afterwards built. The area of the castle is said to have been between 3 and 4 acres.[791] The motte, which is mentioned several times in mediæval documents,[792] was completely levelled in 1848; it was then found out that it had been thrown up over some previous buildings, which were believed to be Roman, though this seems doubtful.[793]

The value of Worcester had risen since the Conquest.[794]