the Roman site, as it is likely that it did, one would expect that part of the ancient defences would be incorporated in the Saxon fortress. So far from this being the case, the line of the Saxon trench deviates wholly from the Roman lines, which it crosses and recrosses in its course, as though it had been dug in clear and open ground. Hence it seems probable that even in Saxon times the Roman buildings at this point had not survived. Thus the very form of the castle forbids the supposition that we have Roman work in situ.

THE MEDIEVAL CASTLE.

Now we may at last describe the buildings as they have come down to us, or as they existed at the end of last century, and of which we have much recorded in history. William the Conqueror confirmed Lancaster, then a vill of Halton, to Roger de Poitou, together with 188 manors between the Mersey and the Ribble. He is credited with. the restoration or rebuilding of the castle. He was, in fact, the builder of the great keep, 80 feet square and 70 feet in height, which was set on the mound of Saxon origin, as was so commonly the case, and the ancient entrenchments were most likely repaired; but little other work in masonry beyond this great tower was then constructed.

This building must have been erected prior to 1102, when Roger was banished, for repeated rebellions. In 1199 the castle was besieged and taken by Hubert de Burgh, and after its surrender was strongly fortified, but the contemporary record refers only to the strengthening of its earthworks. King John visited the town in 1206, and received the ambassadors from France, and homage from Alexander of Scotland. In 1209 a writ was issued to Ranulf, Earl of Chester, Robert de Gresley, and others, to provide men for the construction

of the moats and fosses of the castle. To this period the work in the tower called Adrian's corresponds, as also does the much altered and mutilated portion of the curtain wall stretching towards the keep, now mostly incorporated in and hidden by modern buildings, but of which sufficient remains in an excellent state of preservation to give its true character.

Both this wall and the tower are classed in the local guide books, and in many other works of greater authority, as undoubtedly Roman. Later on I propose to give other proofs of their true date and construction. It is our task now to record the builders of the various portions of the castle, to identify their work as far as possible, and thus to bring into some rational order and sequence the various features of the building, concerning the origin of which most erroneous ideas have long been current.

NORMAN WORK.

The great Norman keep is the only feature which has retained anything like its original appearance, and even this is stated to stand on a Saxon foundation. In truth it replaced the Saxon stockaded mound, but from the foundation upwards it shows no trace of any Saxon masonry. The tower called Adrian's is of transition period, most likely built in the reign of King John; and its curtain wall and the now destroyed round tower to the north, that stood close to the south-west angle of the keep, are of the same period. We may also attribute to this age the round staircase turret on the inner side of the great gateway, and probably also the deep vault below the well tower; the two latter being popularly, but quite erroneously, attributed to the Roman emperor, Constantius Chlorus. These constitute the late Norman portions of the castle.

We may here seek the reason why the well tower, the dungeon tower (now destroyed), and the greater part of the great gateway were partially replaced with the later work still existing. Of the many stirring military and political scenes and changes that the castle has witnessed, we can only briefly refer in this paper to those which have influenced its structure. Lancaster Castle was one of those strong border fortresses that served to curb the almost unceasing warfare with Scotland. The raids and invasions of the Scots extended over the whole of North Lancashire, where few of the older halls or mansions were without their moat and fortified pele tower. Lancaster itself was many times attacked and burned by the raiders.

In 1314, after the defeat of Bannockburn, the town was burned by the Scots, and the castle partially destroyed. Again, in 1322, under Robert Bruce, they overran North Lancashire, and burned the capital, where they were joined by a second army, under the Earl of Murray and Lord James. Douglas. A third invasion followed after the battle of Otterburn, in 1389, when the town and its records were again destroyed. This last invasion occurred during the dukedom of John of Gaunt, who was created Duke of Lancaster in 1362, and who died in 1399. To him popular report attributes the building of the great gateway. Here again tradition seems to be at fault. It is possible that some repairs were commenced at this period, but the character of much of the work is later. Henry IV came to the throne in 1399, and during his reign the royal court was often held at Lancaster, while the existing records show that the great gate (the finest feature of the castle) was rebuilt in his time, probably on the lower part of the older gatehouse of the reign of King John, of

which remnants remain. The upper portion of the well tower and the dungeon tower had been so far destroyed by the Scots, that their almost complete reconstruction became necessary.

We have good evidence that the gatehouse, called "John of Gaunt's," was built in the reign of Henry IV. Over the gate are two shields of arms. A note by Mr. Roper, in The Churches, Castles, and Halls of North Lancashire, gives the following information :

"As several writers have ascribed the erection to John of Gaunt, owing to its bearing what they term his arms, it may be advisable to show that the theory is untenable. In 1342, Edward III first assumed the arms of France, viz., Azure, semee, de fleur-de-lys, quartering the arms of England, known heraldically as France ancient. In 1364, the French king changed this to three fleur-de-lys, two and one triangularly, or France modern; bnt this alteration was not followed in England till 1403 at the earliest, at which date John of Gaunt had been dead four years. As the arms on the gateway are France modern, it is extremely improbable that John of Gaunt erected the front wall in which they are inserted. On one of the shields is still to be seen a label of three points, apparently without any charge. Some writers, on the supposition that the arms were those of John of Gaunt, have treated the label as a label Ermine, the distinction of that prince; but this would not agree with the quarterings, which are of a later period, and which with a label Ermine would relegate the building of the tower to a later prince, who had no interest in Lancaster; probably, therefore, the label was without any charge. This silver label, assumed by Henry V when Prince of Wales, to distinguish his arms from those of his royal father, has been borne by every Prince of Wales since that time; thus seeming to denote that some Prince of Wales was the builder of this part of the tower. And as the only Princes of Wales between 1403 (the date when the arms of France were changed in England) and the reign of Henry VII, were those afterwards known as Henry V, Henry VI, and Edward VI, and as the latter two were called to the throne very young, leaving only Henry V to deal with, and as Henry IV conferred the honour of Lancaster on his son, Prince Henry, and as, further, the arms on the north side of the gateway correspond exactly with those of Henry V, . . . it is probable that to him is due the honour of causing this part of the gateway to be erected."

So much for the very complete heraldic evidence. It is fully borne out by the fashion of the gateway itself, of which the four centred outer and interior arches, the windows and mouldings, fully developed