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

by George Thomas Clark

THE CASTLE OF KENILWORTH, WARWICKSHIRE.

THE three midland counties of England, happily for those who dwelt in them, were not rich in castles, and such as remain are rarely of a very striking character. The position of Belvoir, indeed, is very noble, and Warwick stands without a rival; but these are brilliant exceptions, and the early castle-builders of the shires of Leicester, Warwick, and Northampton, in the absence of those wilder features of nature to which many of the Welsh and Scottish fortresses owe much of their celebrity, had to be content with defences often wholly artificial, and, where natural, seldom of a bold character, though sometimes of formidable strength.

The Castle of Kenilworth is an excellent example of a midland fortress. To an ordinary observer, its site presents much of quiet sylvan beauty, but nothing of obtrusive military strength; and yet, in the hands of skilful engineers, it became, in point of size, strength, and accommodation, one of the most important military posts in England. It had walls capable of great passive resistance, a capacity for containing a numerous garrison and immense stores of provision, and a front protected by a large sheet of water, which again was covered by a formidable outwork. Moreover the midland districts were, from an early period, traversed by main and cross roads, favourable to the concentration of troops and the transfer of stores, seldom sought in vain in so fertile a country. For all these qualities, strength, capacity, a central position, and facilities for collecting and feeding a garrison, there was, in the days of its pride, no fortress in England superior, probably none equal, to Kenilworth; and now, when its grassy lawns and ivy-covered walls are redolent of peace and prosperity, and of English rural life, the thoughtful visitor cannot but feel that the place was a fitting one for the conclusion of that celebrated contest between monarchical power and civil liberty, in which, though the honour and nominal victory were with the Crown, the real and permanent gain remained with the English people.

Half-way between Warwick and Coventry, where the action of water upon the soft rock of the new red sandstone has wrought the surface of the country into an immense network of low, round-topped hills and broad and gentle valleys, the Inchford brook, one of the many tributaries of the river Sow, receives, on its left or northern bank, a smaller and nameless streamlet. At the point where the waters and their respective valleys unite, a knoll, partly of rock and partly of gravel, juts out from the north-east as a sort of low headland between the two, and is somewhat farther isolated by an expansion of the valley lower down, the general effect of which is to invest the high ground with a marshy frontier upon its west, south, and south-eastern slopes, leaving it toward the north and north-east connected with larger tracts of equally raised land.

Such was the spot selected in remote times, probably by some wealthy English franklin, for a residence, and adopted by his Norman successors. By one or other, or possibly by both, a deep trench was dug across the neck of the high ground, on the north and north-east, and the slopes were made steeper on the other sides. The central plot, thus isolated, was raised artificially about 15 feet, probably from the surrounding excavations, and works were thus formed which may still be traced amidst the additions and alterations due to many generations of inhabitants. As usual with these concentric earthworks, the inner and higher part, which carried the residence of the lord, was placed out of centre with the outer and lower area. This was intended not only as an outer defence to the citadel, but as a place of security for the dependents, and in times of danger for the herds and flocks. It was important that all these should be placed near together, hence one or two sides of the base court were of large area, while the remainder was narrow and used for defence only. Such is the arrangement at Berkhampstead, Caerleon, Wigmore, Richard’s Castle, Tonbridge, Ewias-Harold, Kilpeck, Shrewsbury, and in many other fortresses where the Norman engineer has built upon the earlier lines, and such is the case at Kenilworth, where the eastern and north-eastern sides of the outer ward are by much the most spacious.

The mound, so common in English strong places, and found at the adjacent fortress of Warwick, is not here distinctly visible; the question being, whether its site is occupied by the Norman keep or encroached upon by John of Gaunt’s Hall, both of which are connected with ancient earth-banks. A part of one of these banks is seen on the west front of the inner ward, and, though mutilated, may well represent the original burgh. The Norman keep is also connected with made ground. It includes within its walls a very decidedly artificial mound, from 10 to 15 feet high, against which its walls are built. Kenilworth, as it now stands, is a castle of several periods, but its general plan is original and concentric, the principal additions having been the lake and the outwork beyond it. It is composed of a keep, an inner and outer ward, a lake now drained, a large outwork beyond the lake, and a dam which supported the lake, and across which lay the main approach to the castle.

The Inner Ward measures about 80 yards north and south, by 84 yards east and west. Its north-eastern angle is a right one, and its eastern and much of its northern sides are straight lines, but the southern and western sides are irregular. The keep forms and fills up the north-eastern angle. West of it, on the north front, are the kitchens, and at the north-west angle the strong tower. The west front is occupied by the hall, and other domestic and state buildings stand along the south side. Leicester’s buildings form the south-east angle, and Henry VIII.’s lodgings and the curtain, now gone, covered the remainder of the east side. In the centre was an open court, about 40 yards north and south, by 50 yards east and west.

The Keep, known as “Cæsar’s,” and with more justice as “Clinton’s Tower,” is, in magnitude, general proportions, and excellence of material and workmanship, a fine example of a first-class late Norman keep of the rectangular type. It forms the north-east angle of the inner ward, and is built mainly on the rock, here near the surface. The ground is lowest on the east and south faces, so that on these the base is composed of a bold battering wall from 8 to 12 feet high, divided into eight or ten steps, and of 6 to 8 feet projection at the ground line. At the top of this base, which corresponds to the level of the ground floor, the keep measures, from curtain to curtain, 58 feet north and south, by 87 feet east and west, and is from the level about 80 feet high. Its west face is covered by the forebuilding, which projects 38 feet more, and is as long as the keep is broad, or 73 feet from the front face of the turrets. The angles of the keep are capped by four turrets, projecting 7 feet 6 inches, and the faces of which are 26 feet and 22 feet, the latter to the east and west. Between these there are on the south face four, and on the east face three, pilasters, 5 to 7 feet broad, and 1 foot projection. These rise from the common plinth and ascend to the summit of the present wall, which is broken, but which includes 5 or 6 feet of parapet. It is remarkable that this parapet has no exterior projection, not even a stringcourse to mark the level of its base.

The turrets are broken down nearly to the level of the curtains, but parts of their chambers remain. The west face is modified by the forebuilding. There are upon it two pilasters, but they stop at the level of the first floor. The turrets have an offset of 6 inches at two-thirds of their height, and the curtains one at a rather lower level. These are the only exterior reductions in the thickness of the wall, which is vertical. The walls, at the floor level, are 13 to 14 feet thick, and there were two floors only—a basement and an upper or main floor. The basement chamber is 60 feet by 30 feet, and 20 feet high; the upper floor about 4 feet larger, the wall being reduced by 2 feet, upon which shelf the floor rested. This main chamber was about 40 feet high. The basement has lately been probed and opened. It is filled with made ground, varying from 6 to 15 feet deep. The walls evidently go through the made ground, and rest either upon the rock or on the original black vegetable soil. The sacrifice of so much space in so costly a structure is curious. It is evidently intentional, for the character of the masonry shows it was not meant to be seen.

The north-east turret contained a well-stair 10 feet diameter, which ascended from the basement to the battlements, communicating with the first floor. It was lighted by six round-headed loops, of which three to the south-east remain, and open upon a chamfer which fills up the hollow angle between the turret and the east curtain. The stair seems to have opened below by a short bent passage in the north wall, though in the restoration it has been made to open into the chamber in the east wall. The whole north curtain is gone, from the plinth upwards, and has been removed with some care, its junction with the north-west turret being cut smooth. At the other end its removal has necessarily carried away half the staircase, the base of which has been entirely restored. This basement chamber is surrounded by a low, narrow plinth or step, 2 feet high and 1 foot broad. The floor was paved. In the south wall are three grand window recesses, round-headed, and each placed in a reveal about 1 foot broad and deep and square-headed. The arches spring from a plain abacus. They are 8 feet wide and 12 feet high to the springing. At present these recesses are parallel-sided, and open throughout. It is evident they once were deeply splayed, and contained small lights or loops, but the splays were cut away, and the loops replaced by large heavily-mullioned windows of the Tudor period, which windows have again been removed. In the east wall is a similar recess, 6 feet broad, and unaltered. Here the splay from outside and inside contracts in an hour-glass fashion to a loop in the centre of the wall, with a slight shoulder to intercept an arrow. As the parallel sides of the loop are 2 feet thick, and it is 6 feet from the face of the wall, it is clear that no arrow could be discharged hence save nearly straight forwards. As usual, these loops were for air and light, not for defence. Between this loop and the south angle is a square-headed door, of 3 feet opening, under a curious round-headed arch, of which the tympanum is partly formed by the arch stones. This leads to the well, which is in the centre of the wall. It is 4 feet diameter, and much choked up. It ascends to the upper floor. At the north end of this side the wall has been broken away and a small mural chamber laid open, 5 feet wide by 8 feet long, having a plain barrel vault. A door opened into it from the great chamber, and it was lighted by a loop, now converted into a sort of window. The inner wall about the doorway has been strengthened by a pilaster of 1 foot projection, which stops at the first floor. In the recent restoration, this chamber has been made the lobby at the foot of the staircase.