Henry also, in 1261, on the death of his sister-in-law, Saunchia, Countess of Cornwall, wife of his brother Richard, charged upon the Exchequer, in favour of the adjacent Hospital of St. Katherine, fifty shillings per annum for the support of a chaplain, here to pray for her soul; he having already, 1240–1, provided a similar endowment for the sustenance of a regular priest there, with vesture, and chalice, and everything necessary for his office. The obit payment probably fell into arrear; for, in 1290 (18 Edward I.), the Brethren and Sisters of St. Katherine petition for the fifty shillings given by Henry III. for the spiritual benefit of Saunchia. This chapel was dismantled by an Order of Council, August 22, 1550, directing, in both church and chapel, all such crosses, images, and plate of gold as remain, to be melted down. The chapel thus desecrated was long employed as a repository for records. Very recently these have been removed, the walls restored to their primitive simplicity, and the whole paved with tiles of a plain and suitable character. It is due to the interference of the late Lord de Ros that this chapel did not become a tailor’s warehouse.
Above the fourth stage of the keep is the flat leaded roof, affording an area between the parapet wall, of 100 feet east and west, by 113 feet north and south. The turrets rise about 16 feet above the platform, upon which they open by doors, the north-west, south-west, and north-east crowning well-stairs. The fourth, or south-east turret, is built over the chapel wall, and contains a chamber entered from the leads. The large circular, or north-east turret, of 16 feet interior diameter, and of two floors, was used as an observatory by Flamsteed, before the construction of the present building at Greenwich. Its upper floor seems to have been entered by an exterior stair, on the south side, for the support of which the parapet, as may be seen, has an exterior projection. These turrets have been cased, but the old Norman masonry may still be detected.
There is a sort of “entre-sol” between the chapel-vault and the roof, which, over the aisles, is about 7 feet high, and capable of being turned to account. Some of the old drawings show loopholes pierced in the south wall, and there are traces in the south-west turret of a doorway, which seems, from its level, to have led into this vacant space.
The place and manner of the original entrance to the keep are unknown. One notion is that it was on the north side, at the second stage, or first-floor level, near the east end of the wall, where there is at present an entrance by stone steps, 12 feet above the ground. This, however, is certainly an enlarged loop, the interior arch of the recess remaining. A close examination of the exterior shows that the present door has been cut through masonry not intended to cover a large opening, for the joints are horizontal, and there is no relieving arch. West of this in the next, or floor above, where also a modern door has been cut, through which stores are lifted into the armouries, there are traces of an arch of relief, intended to cover an opening of unusual size, and this also has been regarded as the original entrance. But this only seems to have been an enlarged loop; the recess has been enlarged by cutting away the wall, which at the sides has been refaced. This would have been unnecessary had the recess been intended for a doorway. More probably the entrance was on the south side near the west end, where, on this floor level, is a large and original opening with parallel sides and niches in the sides. Evidently this was the main entrance. The masonry shows where the doorway jambs and arch have been cut away, and a window inserted.
Very near this doorway, to the east, is a small but original door opening into the base of the small well-stair. These two doors, being at some height above the ground, pretty certainly opened into a forebuilding which covered the south side of the keep, having its outer entrance at the east end. The armoury is now being removed, and possibly below it may be found the foundations of the Norman forebuilding.
Although much injured and obscured by injudicious repairs, parts of the original surface may be detected. The base, quoins, and pilaster strips were evidently of ashlar, very open jointed. The rest of the wall was of rubble, rudely coursed, but with a great preponderance of mortar, much resembling the earliest work at Malling Abbey and St. Leonard’s Tower. The arches throughout are semicircular, and quite plain. The vaulting, though sometimes groined, is never ribbed. It may also be remarked that there is no subterranean chamber in the keep, or anywhere throughout the fortress.
The arrangements within the keep are very peculiar, and show a prevision against surprise, carried, if not to excess, yet to a degree fatal to the convenience of the royal personages and great officers of state, for whose deliberations and occasional residence the building was designed.
The main door, supposing it to be as indicated, opened upon a very gloomy first floor, from which a turnpike stair led downwards to the basement, and upwards to the second floor. To this floor the way from the stair was along a bent and narrow mural passage, and from the inner room by two staircases to the upper story and battlements. Having attained the upper story, the entrance to the state-rooms was again only by mural galleries, admitting but one person abreast.
For purely military purposes all this was advantageous. Supposing a score of resolute men to garrison the keep, they could hold the main door and postern against an army; or supposing them, by surprise, to have lost the lower stories, they could still defend the passage to the second floor without fear of being outflanked; while above there was easy access from the state-floor to the battlements, whence the enemy could be assailed to most advantage. There remained indeed to the besiegers the last and most terrible resource of firing the place, and, once within the walls, this would be easy and irresistible. Not even this immensely solid masonry would have resisted the conflagration which a torch flung upon the wooden floors of the building would be sure to kindle.
For the purposes of state the great height of the council-chamber, its excessive coldness, the difficulty of access, the inconvenience of the frequent posts probably necessary for the support of its roof, and finally, the entire absence of privacy in a room so large and with so many lateral openings, must have been serious drawbacks. No doubt the rooms were bratticed off into smaller chambers, and hung with tapestry, but even then the presence of the floors, ceilings, and partitions must have rendered the employment of stoves and bratticed chimneys very dangerous.