Chapter xlii

.

[550] D. B., i., 280.

[551] "Ipse Baldwinus vicecomes tenet de Rege Ochementone, et ibi sedet castellum." D. B., i., 105b, 2.

[552] The late Mr Worth thought the lower part of the keep was early Norman. He was perhaps misled by the round arched loops in the basement. But round arches are by no means conclusive evidence in themselves of Norman date, and the size of these windows, as well as the absence of buttresses, and the presence of pointed arches, are quite incompatible with the early Norman period. The whole architecture of the castle agrees with a 14th century date, to which the chapel undoubtedly belongs.

[553] Eyton, _Antiquities of Shropshire_, vol. vii.

[554] "Ibi fecit Rainaldus Castellum Luure." D. B., i., 253b. Rainald was an under-tenant of Roger, Earl of Shrewsbury.

[555] This sketch is reproduced in Mr Parry-Jones' _Story of Oswestry Castle_. Leland says, "Extat turris in castro nomine Madoci." _Itin._, v., 38.

[556] "In operatione palicii de Blancmuster 2_l._ 6_s._ 8_d._" XII., 124. Oswestry was known as Blancmoustier or Album Monasterium in Norman times.

[557] _Abingdon Chronicle_ and _Osney Chronicle_, which, though both of the 13th century, were no doubt compiled from earlier sources.

[558] _Osney Chronicle_, 1071.

[559] See Ingram's _Memorials of Oxford_ for an account of the very interesting crypt of this church, p. 8. The battlement storey of the tower is comparatively late.

[560] Mackenzie, _Castles of England_, i., 160.

[561] D. B., p. 154.

[562] Rymer's _Foedera_, vol. i.

[563] "Terram castelli Pechefers tenuerunt Gerneburn et Hunding." D. B., i., 276a, 2.

[564] There are similar nook-shafts to Henry II.'s keep at Scarborough, and to Castle Rising. Mr Hartshorne (_Arch. Journ._, v., 207) thought that there had been an earlier stone keep at Peak Castle, because some moulded stones are used in the walls, and because there is some herring-bone work in the basement. But this herring-bone work only occurs in a revetment wall to the rock in the cellar; and the moulded stones may be quite modern insertions for repairs, and may have come from the oratory in the N.E. angle, or from some of the ruined windows and doorways. The sums entered to this castle between the years 1172 and 1176 are less than half the cost of Scarborough keep, and do not appear adequate, though the keep was a small one. But there is some reason to think that the cost of castles was occasionally defrayed in part from sources not entered in the _Pipe Rolls_.

[565] Rex E. tenuit Peneverdant. Ibi 2 carucatæ terræ et reddebant 10 denarios. Modo est ibi castellum.... Valent 3 libras. D. B., i., 270.

[566] We need not resort to any fanciful British origins of the name Peneverdant, as it is clearly the effort of a Norman scribe to write down the unpronounceable English name Penwortham.

[567] See _ante_, under Clitheroe.

[568] Mr Halton's book (_Documents relating to the Priory of Penwortham_) throws no light on this point.

[569] _Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire_, vol. ix., 1856-1857, paper on "The Castle Hill of Penwortham," by the Rev. W. Thornber; Hardwick's _History of Preston_, pp. 103-11.

[570] In a paper published in the _Trans. Soc. Ant. Scot_, for 1900, on "Anglo-Saxon Burhs and Early Norman Castles," the present writer was misled into the statement that this hut was the remains of the cellar of the Norman _bretasche_. A subsequent study of Mr Hardwick's more lucid account of the excavations showed that this was an error. There were two pavements of boulders, one on the natural surface of the hill, on which the hut had been built, the other 5 feet above it, and 12 feet below the present surface. The hut appeared to have been circular, with wattled walls and a thatched roof. Several objects were found in its remains, and were pronounced to be Roman or Romano-British. The upper pavement would probably be the flooring of a Norman keep.

[571] Mr Roach Smith pronounced this spur to be Norman. As its evidence is so important, it is to be regretted that its position was not more accurately observed. It was found in the lowest stratum of the remains, but Mr Hardwick says: "As it was not observed until thrown to the surface, a possibility remained that it might have fallen from the level of the upper boulder pavement, 5 feet higher." We may regard this possibility as a certainty, if the lower hut was really British.

[572] Mr Willoughby Gardner says the castle commands a ford, to which the ancient sunk road leads. _Victoria Hist. of Lancashire_, vol. ii.

[573] Hugh Candidus, _Coenob. Burg. Historia_, in Sparke's _Scriptores_, p. 63. This passage was kindly pointed out to me by Mr Round. Hugh lived in Henry III.'s reign, but he must have had the more ancient records of the monastery at his disposal.

[574] Domesday Book mentions that the value of the burgus had greatly risen. It was one of the _burhs_ mentioned in the _Burghal Hidage_.

[575] _Pipe Roll_, 1187-1188. William of Jumièges says, "Statim firmissimo vallo castrum condidit, probisque militibus commisit." VII., 34. Wace professes to give the account of an eye-witness, who saw the timber for the castle landed from the ships, and the ditch dug. But Wace was not a contemporary, and as he has made the mistake of making William land at Pevensey instead of Hastings, his evidence is questionable. _Roman de Rou_, p. 293 (Andresen's edition).

[576] The ruins of this keep, until 1908, were buried under so large a mound of earth and rubbish that Mr G. T. Clark mistook it for a motte, and the present writer was equally misled. It ought to be stated, before the date of this keep is finally settled, that the _Gesta Stephani_ speaks of this castle as "editissimo aggere sublatum." P. 106.

[577] _Ibid._

[578] _Close Rolls_, i., 631a.

[579] D. B., i., 20b.

[580] D. B., i., 373b.

[581] Cited in Holmes' _History of Pontefract_, p. 62.

[582] Another charter, which is a confirmation by the second Ilbert de Lacy of the ecclesiastical gifts of Ilbert I. and Robert his son, states that the Chapel of St Clement in the castle of Pontefract was founded by Ilbert I. in the reign of William II. _Mon. Ang._, v., 128.

[583] It is not necessary to discuss the meaning of the name Pontefract, since for whatever reason it was given, it was clearly bestowed by the Norman settlers.

[584] "Castrum de Pontefracto est quasi clavis in comitatu Ebor." Letter of Ralph Neville to Henry III., _Foedera_, i., 429, cited by Holmes, _Pontefract_, 194.

[585] The Conqueror had given him more than 200 manors in Yorkshire. _Yorks. Arch. Journ._, xiv., 17.

[586] Four roundels are shown in the plate given in Fox's _History of Pontefract_, "from a drawing in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries." But the drawing is so incorrect in some points that it can hardly be relied upon for others. There were only three roundels in Leland's time.

[587] Drake's account of the siege says that there was a hollow place between Piper's Tower and the Round Tower all the way down to the well; the gentlemen and soldiers all fell to carrying earth and rubbish, and so filled up the place in a little space. Quoted in Holmes' _Manual of Pontefract Castle_.

[588] In the _English Historical Review_ for July 1904, where this paper first appeared, the writer spoke of _two_ mottes at Pontefract, having been led to this view by the great height of the east end of the bailey, where the ruins of John of Gaunt's work are found. This view is now withdrawn, in deference to the conclusions of Mr D. H. Montgomerie, F.S.A., who has carefully examined the spot.

[589] _Mon. Ang._, iv., 178.

[590] From a description by Mr D. H. Montgomerie.

[591] D. B., i., 224.

[592] See