The east face of the keep was covered by the Forebuilding, which evidently contained a straight staircase, which rose from the north-east corner of the keep, and ascended to the main doorway on the second-floor level. This doorway, as at Middleham, is near the south end of the wall, but, notwithstanding, the steps must have begun above the ground level, to reach, without undue steepness, so considerable a height. The wall has been so much injured, and so freely repaired, that the marks of the stairs are no longer visible, but a toothing and some springing stones, as for an arch, seem to show that the staircase rose from the north-east angle, under a covered way or low tower, the battlements of which were evidently reached by the oblique passage still seen above in the wall, as at Middleham and Rochester. Below the level of the original doorway are traces of a larger and more lofty doorway, in the ornate Decorated style,—evidently an insertion. This would give direct passage into the first floor of the keep, and was probably inserted when the arcading was introduced, and this converted into the main apartment. There are other toothings and roughnesses in the wall, indicating various alterations. The forebuilding was about 12 feet broad, and contained a basement and two floors, as shown by the openings in the south wall, which are, near the ground, a loop; above it, a small window; and above that a garderobe, corbelled out upon two heavy blocks upon the south wall. Above the line of roof of the forebuilding is to be seen the east window of the oratory, and near it a cruciform loop.
KEEP, FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.
Unfortunately for the close examination of this very curious keep, the upper part is inaccessible, and ladders of sufficient length are not readily to be procured. The architectural history of the castle may be inferred from its details, so far as these are visible. It is evident that the original fortress was a late Norman keep, and it must have been placed within an enceinte pretty closely corresponding to that now seen, and which skirts the edge of the ditch. Of this supposed original enceinte wall, as well as of the domestic buildings and gatehouse, which must have been present in some form or other within it, there remain no very certain traces. The keep, judging from internal evidence, and probably the ditches were the work of Robert de Vipont, very early in the thirteenth century.
In the Decorated period the castle underwent great alterations. The keep was probably raised a story, and an oratory included in the new work. The basement was vaulted, the first floor arcaded, and the forebuilding so altered as to admit of an entrance on that floor. All the rest of the castle, gatehouses, domestic buildings, and the whole of the enceinte wall belong to one general period, and are probably the work of Roger de Clifford, the first of his race who held this property, and the husband of Isabel de Vipont, its heiress, in the reign of Edward I. Usually, when a Norman fortress was remodelled in the Edwardian period, the keep was neglected, and left in its original isolation; here, however, it was decided to turn the keep to account, and to ornament its principal chambers, and connect them with the suite of rooms in the upper floor of the gatehouse.
The drawing represents a section of the keep east and west, looking south. Something of the various additions is here shown, and the springings of the vault of the basement.
The exterior view of the keep is taken from the south-west quarter, and shows, above, the projection for the oratory, and below and beyond it the end wall of the demolished forebuilding. On the left is seen the river gateway of the entrance.
There are some peculiarities of detail in this castle which need further investigation. The large windows of the first and second floors of the keep are original; but the half-piers and bell-caps in the exterior jambs look much later, and may be a part of the Decorated additions. It is said that the buildings against the east wall received some alterations from another Roger de Clifford, grandson of the former. It is curious that walls so thick as those of the keep, and of such good material, should have been left solid, for the most part unpierced by the chambers and passages so much affected by the Norman architects. It is also to be observed that the curtain wall is but scantily furnished with flanking defences. Countess Anne mentions “the Tower of Leaguer,” and “the Pagan Tower,” and “the Greystoke State Chamber,” in Brougham Castle.