Excellent papers have been written upon Rochester Castle by Messrs. Beal Poste, Blaauw, Hartshorne, and Burtt, the latter in the form of an account of Roger de Leybourne’s share in the Barons’ war.
P.S. Since the above account was written, Mr. Irvine, the very able and acute superintendent of the late Sir Gilbert Scott’s works at Rochester Cathedral, has made a discovery which is not in accord with any of the existing opinions as to the particulars of the Roman settlement. It appears that the south transept is built across a ditch, which runs north and south, and, no doubt, underlies the whole breadth of the cathedral. The ditch is 12 feet broad at the top, and 7 feet at the bottom of the excavation, now 14 feet deep, but was probably much deeper. It is cut through sound old gravel, and was filled up with black soil, with occasional dressed stones of Roman workmanship, Roman tiles, and bits both of black and red pottery, one of the former having a stamped interior ornament. Mr. Irvine, it is said, is in a condition to show that this was the ditch of a wall standing to its west, or towards the river. If so, the original station may have occupied the site of the present castle, at the west end of the accepted place of the Roman town, of which it may have been the citadel.
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.
WITHIN the north-eastern border of Northamptonshire, abutted upon by the shires of Leicester, Rutland, and Lincoln to the north and east, and by that of Huntingdon to the south, is a large tract of rather elevated land, known as the Forest of Rockingham. Its natural limits are the valleys of the Nen and the Welland, whose general parallelism is continued in their course across the Holland fen to their common termination in the Wash. Towards the west this platform is further cut off by the Ise, which rises about four miles from the Welland and falls into the Nen by Wellingborough. The tract thus marked out by nature, and long known as the Forest, extends east and west twenty-four miles from Oxendon Bridge to that of Stamford, and is at its widest between Rockingham and Thrapston, about twelve miles. The position, when the meads of the Nen and the Welland were marshes, and the fens scarcely navigable, was one of great strength, and occupied at an early period by invaders and colonists of Danish blood, whose traces are largely preserved in the topographical nomenclature of the district. The soil, chiefly derived from the subjacent oolite, is not naturally fertile, and long remained as forest, which even now, though cultivation has made immense progress, is represented by large patches of woodland, such as the well-timbered parks of Rockingham, Boughton, Blatherwick, Burleigh, Drayton, and Dene; the wilds of Morehay and Sulehay; the Bedford purlieus; and the Chase of Geddington.
Rockingham, which gave name to the forest and to a much smaller tract of land still known as the Shire, is placed upon the right or south bank of the Welland, just above the point where the influx of the Eye brook marks the meeting of the counties of Northampton, Leicester, and Rutland. The village stands on ground rising from the river, and above and to its south, immediately over the parish church, is the castle. The castle is a marked feature in the landscape, as it is placed upon a sort of promontory which juts out from the table land of the forest towards the Welland, and is protected on each side by a deep ravine, two of many by which the steep margin of the valley is intersected. South-west of the castle, and divided from it by the larger ravine, is the park, a very ancient enclosure, at one time containing red deer, which, however, had disappeared before Leland’s visit; and behind, and south of the castle and the park, is the tract of recently-enclosed land called the Shire.
Rockingham has been described as a name of English formation, purely descriptive. The castle stands on the “Rock;” between it and the Welland is the broad and fertile “Ing,” or meadow; and the “Ham” represents the village, whether enclosed by bank, ditch, or hedge. Other authorities, with perhaps more reason, have objected to this use of the word “ing,” and have supposed the name to be the “hame” or home of the “Rockings.” However this may be, ancient as is the name, and important as must ever have been the position, the place is not to be found in any record previous to the Conquest, though a similar name occurs in Kent as Roegringham, in a charter by Cœnulf of Mercia, A.D. 811. It may be that the name is found elsewhere, for among the followers of Archduke Philip at his meeting with Henry VII. in 1500 occurs “Le Sieur de Rockingham de Flanders” (“Letters of Henry VII.”, p. 88). The earliest mention of the place is in Domesday, where it is stated that the king holds Rockingham. Bovi held it in the time of King Edward with sac and soc. It was waste when King William ordered a castle to be made. No doubt here, as generally elsewhere, William’s decision was guided by the existence of an earlier work. It is evident, from an inspection of the remaining earthworks, and from a comparison of them with others, such, for example, as Brinklow, that they belong to the class of moated mounds, and consequently are far older than the Conquest. Bovi, no doubt, dwelt here, and it was his strong dwelling that the Conqueror ordered to be converted into a castle.
Enough remains to show that the earthworks were composed of a conical flat-topped mound or donjon, with a base-court attached on one side. The mound seems to have been about 100 feet diameter on the top, and not less than 30 feet high. It was circumscribed by its proper ditch, which, to judge from indications on the south side, must have been broad and deep. To the north of the mound was the base-court, of an irregular but rounded figure, covering about 3½ acres. The outline of this court corresponded generally with the contour of the ground, the slope of which formed a part of the defence. The court abutted upon the north face of the mound, outside its ditch, and covered about one-third or five-twelfths of its circumference. Thus the greater part of the mound, as at Brinklow, was outside the general line of defence, of which it formed a part. Also it was posted on the side of the work opposite the high ground, between the heads of the ravines, and naturally, as at Brinklow, the weakest side. In advance of the mound, at some yards distance, is a bank and ditch crossing the approach, and again in advance, about a furlong from the keep, is a second ditch, even now containing water, and dividing the castle precinct from the shire. Probably these outworks are of later date than the keep. There are also other works to the east, beyond the ravine, and especially one large bank which now forms the central line of an avenue of lime-trees. These works are irregular, and were possibly thrown up when the castle has been besieged. On this side are also some small tumuli, placed two and two, said to cover the remains of cottages.
The changes made by the Norman builders, and by those who in their turn destroyed the Norman walls, have much effaced the traces of the early fortress. The bank, which no doubt encircled the court, has been thrown back so as to raise and level up the interior platform, and for the main ditch has been substituted a scarped revetment about 8 feet high, surmounted by a parapet, which represents the curtain wall. At the foot of this are the remains of the ditch, and lower down the hill certain terraces, which look as though they had been defended by lines of stockade for musketeers during the parliamentary siege. These irregularities of the surface have been thought to represent a British camp, for which the situation is, no doubt, suitable. Of the mound there remains only a semilunar bank, which formed its northern edge. The central and southern parts have been removed and thrown into the ditch, the line of which is indicated by a slight but clear and broad depression. This was evidently done when the Parliament obtained the place, to render it indefensible. It is also evident that the base-court was subdivided, as at Brinklow. This is shown by the levels of the different parts. One division ran north and south, cutting off on the east the entrance ward with the lodgings. The other ran east and west, and subdivided the western ward. The three courts are on different levels, the entrance court the lowest by 6 feet or 8 feet.
Whether the Conqueror built a work in masonry, or merely strengthened the existing defences, is unknown. There is no masonry extant of that century. But he or his successors certainly placed a shell keep upon the mound, and built a wall round the court. This wall seems to have had six faces, and to have occupied a circuit of about 490 yards. It still commences at the top of the keep mound, descends the slope, crosses the ditch, and runs 134 yards in a straight line, forming the east front of the castle. The lower courses of this wall, which is 9 feet thick, may be late Norman. The upper part, 25 feet to 30 feet high, is probably Decorated, as is the gatehouse, which is in this front. Towards the north-east angle the wall has been rebuilt, and supports a seventeenth-century building. At this, at a right angle, the wall is replaced by a revetment of late date, and runs westward for 83 yards, having the church, &c., below and in front of it. The direction of the wall then changes to the south-west at the angle of about 160°, which was capped by a round mural tower, of which the foundations remain. This face is 94 yards long, and ends in an angle of 130°, where, no doubt, was another drum-tower. Then follows a side of 64 yards, ending in an angle of 140°, followed by a side of 40 yards, then by an angle of 150°, and a short side of 25 yards, which ends in the keep mound in a mass of masonry, which, if not wholly original, is so in part, and formed of old material. Thus the whole circuit of the court wall from one side of the keep to the other is about 440 yards. The two western faces rise directly over the ravine. The two to the south-west are some way from its edge, and here are no traces of a revetment; and there was, no doubt, a ditch. The wall is now removed, but indications of its foundation are seen on the turf in dry weather. The distance from one end of the wall to the other, measured across the keep, is 50 yards, which thus completes the circuit of the court.