Page images
PDF
EPUB
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

into a stone enceinte was the work of Henry III.'s reign.

We think the evidence suggests that this burh or outer rampart was in existence when the Conqueror came to Dover, crowned in all probability with a stockade and towers of wood. It may possibly have been a British or even a Roman earthwork originally (though its outline does not suggest Roman work); or it may have been built by Harold as a city of refuge for the inhabitants of the port. The Saxon church which it encloses, and which has long been attributed to the earliest days of Saxon Christianity, is now pronounced by the best authorities to be comparatively late in the style.2

1

The size of the inner castle of Dover appears to be about 6 acres, reckoning the keep ward at 2, and the bailey at about 4.

The value of the town of Dover had trebled at the time of the Survey, in spite of the burning of the town at William's first advent.3

[ocr errors]

DUDLEY, Staffordshire (Fig. 15). — William Fitz Ansculf held Dudley at the time of the Survey, "and there is his castle."4 Mr Clark appears to accept the dubious tradition of a Saxon Dodda, who first built this castle in the 8th century, since he speaks of Dudley as "a great English residence." This tradition, however, is not supported by Domesday Book, which shows

1 Mr Statham thinks the port of Dover, though a Roman station, was unwalled till the 13th century, and gives evidence. History of Dover, p. 56.

See Professor Baldwin Brown, "Statistics of Saxon Churches" in the Builder, 20th October 1900; and in The Arts in Early England, ii., 338. 3 D. B., i., I.

4 Istedem Willelmus tenet Dudelei, et ibi est castellum ejus. T. R. E. valebat 4 libras, modo 3 libras." D. B., i., 177.

5 M. M. A., i., 24.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

DUDLEY-DUNSTER

2

145

In

Dudley to have been only a small and unimportant manor before the Conquest. The strong position of the hill was no doubt the reason why the Norman placed his castle there. There is no Norman masonry in the present ruins. The earliest work is that of the keep on the motte, a rectangular tower with round corner turrets, attributed by Mr W. St John Hope to about 1320. The first castle was demolished by Henry II. in 1175,' and an attempt to restore it in 1218 was stringently countermanded. The case of Dudley is one of those which proves that Henry II. destroyed some lawful castles in 1175 as well as the unlawful ones. 1264 a license to restore it was granted to Roger de Somery, in consideration of his devotion to the king's cause in the Barons' War. The whole area of the castle, including the motte, but not including the works at the base of the hill on which it stands, is 1 acres. The bailey is an irregular oval, following the hill top. Dudley is an instance in which the value of the manor has gone down instead of up since the erection of the castle; this may perhaps be laid to the account of the devastation caused through the Staffordshire insurrection of 1069.

3

DUNSTER, Somerset (Fig. 15). - Called Torre in Domesday Book. "There William de Moion has his castle." The motte here appears to be a natural rock or tor, whose summit has been levelled and its sides

1 "Circa dies istos castellum de Huntinduna, de Waletuna, de Legercestria, et Grobi, de Stutesbers [Tutbury], de Dudeleia, de Tresc, et alia plura pariter corruerunt, in ultionem injuriarum quas domini castellorum regi patri frequenter intulerunt." Diceto, i., 404, R. S.

2 Close Rolls, i., 380.

3 Parker's History of Domestic Architecture, Licenses to Crenellate, 13th century, Part ii., p. 402. Godwin, "Notice of the Castle at Dudley," Arch. Journ., xv., 47.

4 D. B., i., 95b.

K

« PreviousContinue »