With the exception of the lower part of the eastern curtain wall there is no masonry visible that can by any possibility be of the eleventh, and probably none of the twelfth, century. In the churchyard are some fragments in the Norman style, but they are not supposed to have come from the castle. Over the inner portal a stone carved in a sort of cable moulding has been inserted, but this does not appear to be Norman, and in any case has only lately been placed there.
The works of Henry III. and Edward I. are represented by the upper part of the curtain, the gatehouse, and the doors, walls, and windows of the hall, and probably by the three blocks of masonry that abut upon the keep mound, though two of these may be in substance earlier. All the rest of the castle is the work of the several grantees, and mainly, if not wholly, of the ancestors of the present owner. The general result of the mixture of buildings of so many styles and ages is exceedingly happy. The rooms, though not lofty, are comfortable and picturesque, and filled with fittings and furniture in harmony with their age and dimensions, and also with modern appliances. The walls, of the stone of the country, have a venerable aspect, and are covered with climbing plants, and the platforms of the several wards, and interior of the keep mound, are lain out in lawns and flower-gardens, whence the view over the village and beyond the Welland is very extensive.
Leland, who visited the castle in the reign of Henry VIII., while it was yet a military building, has left a description of it, and what he then saw:—“The castelle of Rockingham standith on the toppe of an hille, right stately, and hath a mighty diche, and bullewarks agayne without the diche. The utter waulles of it yet stond. The kepe is exceeding fair and strong, and in the waulles be certein strong towers. The lodgings that were within the area of the castelle be discovered and faul to ruine. One thing in the waulles of this castelle is much to be noted, that is, that they be embattelid on booth the sides, so that if the area of the castelle were won by cumming in at either of the two greate gates of the castelle, yet the kepers of the waulles might defende the castelle. I marked that there is a stronge tower in the area of the castelle, and from it over the dungeon dike is a drawbridge to the dungeon toure.”—“Itin.,” i. 14.
The mighty ditch, and bulwarks beyond it, refer probably to the keep and the ground to its south, where alone a ditch was needed. The keep was, of course, a circular or polygonal shell upon the mound. The strong towers on the walls were, no doubt, drums like those of the gatehouse, capping the angles of the curtain wall. The double parapet was not unusual, and with a wall 9 feet thick by no means impracticable. Where the strong tower stood is unknown, but it must have been within the court, north of the keep, and beyond the ditch of the keep or donjon, to which its drawbridge gave access. Of the second great gate no tradition is preserved, but it could not possibly have been anywhere save to the south, as on the other sides is no practicable approach. The latest works are two towers by Mr. Salvin, one plain, square, and solid, near the keep, the other octagonal, light, and lofty, placed near the end of the hall. They are a great and judicious addition to the building.
It so happens that there exists a still later evidence for the condition of the keep in a plan probably representing the temporary works thrown up during the parliamentary attack for the defence of the keep from an attack on the outer or south front. This shows the summit of the keep covered with buildings arranged in a polygon 80 feet diameter, with an open court in the centre. Outside these, along the edge of the mount, is a line of stockade, 180 feet long, resting on the walls of the court, and strengthened by two bastions of timber. The bottom of the ditch forms a covered way, and along the counterscarp is placed a second line of stockades, 240 feet long, and also resting at each end on the walls. The ends of the curtain and of the intermediate wall abutting on the keep are also shown. On the south margin of the keep is a well. This plan is specially interesting, as it not only shows that there was a building upon the mound, but lays down a plan of defence, which in all probability is precisely what the Conqueror found here in use when he ordered a castle to be made.
Among the Fabric rolls in the Public Record Office are several entries relating to Rockingham Castle, from which the following extracts were made by the late Mr. Burtt.
A small roll, 4 Edward I., of masons’ and carpenters’ work, amounting to £37. 6s. 6½d.
A fragment of a roll, undated, but early in the same reign: Expenses of a mason “circa turrem faciendam et murum turris ex parte meridionali punctuandum et petras in muro debiles et fractas extrahendas et alias petras ibi ponendas et petras ad eundem murum scapulandas.” A carpenter was employed “circa chevrones ad lardarium faciendas et fenestras ad celarium (the cellar) sub oriolo reparandas et faciendas.” Two masons are employed upon “murum castri ex parte orientali porte facientes;” and others upon the walls generally. There was also a payment “plumbariis facientibus et cooperientibus parvam cloacam super murum castri versus ecclesiam Rok’,” that is, on the north curtain.
Another roll, 4–5 Edward I., contains in two membranes a record of the expenses “ad petram liberam frangendam apud Pukesalter”; also of two men “operantes super gradus aule Regine”; and of a carpenter “ad garderobam Regine carpentandam ad tascam et cendulandam, 40s.”
5–6 Edward I. are three entries: a mason and other men were employed “circa novum oriolum ad hostium magne camere et veteram aulam erigendam.” Others were engaged “circa mantellam magni turris faciendam et erigendam”; and others “circa cumilum parve camere juxta le viz et fenestram et alia in garderoba Regis facienda.”