Determined never to admit a mistake, Mr. Oman retorted:
Of course, I am quite aware that in many burhs the outer works are not purely concentric; but the concentric form is the more typical. An admirable example of such a stronghold may be seen on p. 21 of Mr. Clark’s book, where he gives the plan of Edward’s burh of Towcester built in 921.[110]
Yet, in dealing with the Norman shell keeps on these “old palisaded mounds,” Mr. Oman actually, in his own book, admits, of their “outer defences,” that
as a general rule, the keep lies not in the middle of the space, but at one end of it, or set in the walls ... as a general rule the keep stands at one end of the enclosed space, not in its midst.[111]
This is the feature of these striking works for which I myself contended, and which, on that account, Mr. Oman at once denied.
As to the Towcester burh, I will place side by side my criticism and Mr. Oman’s reply:
| Mr. Round. | Mr. Oman. |
| A comparison of the plan on p. 21 with those on pp. 24, 25 will show at once that the former is that of the “water-girt mound” (as Mr. Oman terms it) alone, and contains no “outer works,” concentric or other.[112] | He states that Towcester burh, as drawn on p. 21 of Mr. Clark’s Mediæval Military Architecture, is ‘a water-girt mound alone, with no outer works, concentric or other.’... Apparently Mr. Round cannot read the simplest military sketch; in this map there are clear indications of outer lines other than the mere water.... In short, Mr. Round is writing nonsense, and I strongly suspect that he knows it.[113] |
Any archæologist comparing the plans will see at once that my statement is correct, and that the plan (compare the section) shows absolutely nothing beyond the actual ditch of the mound. I offered to submit the question to Mr. St. John Hope’s decision,[114] but Mr. Oman would submit it to no one but his friend and coadjutor, Mr. York Powell, who is not known as an authority on these works, and who is hostile to myself because I exposed Mr. Freeman![115]
Having now shown that, in his own words, Mr. Oman “cannot read the simplest military sketch,” I pass to the siege of Rochester Castle, famous for its rectangular keep, in 1264. This was an event that deserves attention in a ‘History of the Art of War,’ for John had breached the keep by mining half a century before, and the stately structure had now to stand an energetic siege at the hands of Simon de Montfort. A striking passage in Rishanger’s Chronicle tells us that, advancing from London,
comes autem de Leycestria, vir in omnibus circumspectus, machinas et alia ad expugnationem castri necessaria secum a civitate Londoniarum per aquam et per terram transvehi præcepit, quibus inclusos vehementer impugnavit, nec eos indulgere quieti permisit; exemplum relinquens Anglicis qualiter circa castrorum assultationes agendum sit qui penitus hujusmodi diebus illis fuerant ignari.[116]