Mediæval Military Architecture in England, Volume 1 (of 2)

by George Thomas Clark

The southern wing is of the same Stuart date, excepting that the wall between it and the central part is original. It is the southern end wall of the old hall. The wing itself covers the old entrance used by the Herberts, and stands on the site of a group of towers, shown in the oil painting in the castle, and of which the entrance was a part. Probably these towers were Clare and Beauchamp work, and demolished by the Herberts. They are shown in the painting, but they are wanting in the drawings of 1776.

There remain to be noticed two lesser wings, or groups of buildings, placed outside the great wall, one on each flank of the building, and each connected with the central octagon tower by a sort of corridor.

Of these wings, the southern appears to be coëval with the tower. Its two lower stories, 14 feet square, are vaulted. The southern corridor, which connects the wing with the octagon tower, communicates in its first floor with the basement story of the tower, and seems to have been the passage from the tower postern towards the interior of the building. The present wall, however, is in part, if not altogether, modern, and presents difficulties which have not as yet been cleared up.

The northern wing and its corridor are Stuart work. This wing is occupied, on the one floor, by the back drawing-room, to enlarge which above 7 feet have been cut away from the face of the great wall.

Seldom has an old wall been so severely treated, or stood the mutilation so well. The gain, however, has been an excellent back drawing-room and study, accessible, by means of these tunnellings, from both the great drawing-room and the lobby.

Altogether, notwithstanding many faults of detail, the general result of the alterations and additions made since 1775 has been decidedly successful. The great court has been cleared, and the keep, though deprived of its ditch and lower gatehouses, still presents a venerable aspect, and in summer, when its surrounding thorns are in bloom, one of singular beauty. The Black Tower has been restored nearly after the old pattern. In the main building, the great tower which once capped the north-western angle, has, by additions on the north, been placed in the centre of its front; and within the court, the addition of the south, and reconstruction of the north wing, and the opening of windows in the blind turret, have added much to the completeness of the whole.

In place of the old hall is an entrance lobby and a dining-room, which, with a breakfast-room and drawing-room, all of large size and excellent proportions, a back drawing-room, study, and some smaller apartments, form a suite, quite equal to the aspects and pretensions of the building. The antiquary, indeed, may be permitted to regret the extent to which the internal features have been removed or masked by modern plaster-work and upholstery.

In speculating upon the age, absolute or relative, of the different parts of this castle, our only guide, down at least to the age of Elizabeth, is the internal evidence of its structure, and especially the plans of its basement and main stories. From these it may be safely inferred that the great west wall of the enclosure, the work of Robert Consul or his successor, was originally continued in an unbroken line, the Norman buildings having been in some other part of the court as well as upon the mound. The castle of Robert Consul was probably a rectangular enclosure, 216 yards by 84 yards, contained within three very substantial walls, and possibly a wooden palisade, on the line of which stood the mound and its keep; and east of this enclosure was a second rectangular space, the outer ward, 216 yards by 116 yards, contained within three banks of earth, strengthened by a moat on the north, by a moat and the town gate on the east, and by a moat and the town itself on the south, and perhaps further defended by a palisade of timber or a mere breast-wall along the crest of the bank. The entrance, even then, from the town was, probably, where it now is, by an archway in the curtain opening into the outer ward; and that from the outer into the middle ward was probably in the centre of the intervening defence. There was certainly no tower at the south-west angle, and probably none at the north-west; and the Black Tower also seems of rather later date. The castle was, in fact, in two parts, the one a mere enclosure of strong walls, and a palisade, with a circular mound; the other, and larger part, an enclosure within earthworks.

Such seems to have been the Norman castle, calculated from its enormous passive strength to defy any military machines likely to be brought against it by the Welsh. The next additions were probably the Black Tower and the cross curtain wall; and the next, with a view to the occasional residence of the De Clares, the older part of the present lodgings, built within and against the western wall.

The extent of this structure cannot now be determined; but it is probable that it included the present front or east wall of the centre of the building, the south or cross wall connecting this with the great wall, and a corresponding north wall, destroyed by the Herberts or Stuarts, and rebuilt by the latter. There would thus be a clear space of about 61 feet by 18 feet for the hall; and no doubt there were besides kitchens at the northern, and some additional buildings at the southern end. This would give a moderate hall and lodgings, and, with the Black Tower and the keep, afford very fair accommodation for a baron and his train. The southern stair-turret was, probably, an early addition to this work.