DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6913#0198
108
ARCHITECTURAL ANTIQUITIES.
probably the barracks for the garrison, and further on, a square tower with its
entrance from the wall; the embattled rampart, pierced with loops, remains here
and there in picturesque masses. On the left side of the area are the ruins of the
court-house, which had a door outwardly, and beyond it is a lofty semilunar tower,
with its side to the court, flat, and that towards the country rounded : it was probably
built by one of the Mortimers, whose name it bears ; and though now miserably
deformed by the insertion of many modern windows, is still a noble object. This
tower was repaired by Sir Henry Sydney as the important purpose of a depository
for the records of the court.
The main castle stands on the north-western side of the ballium, from which it is
divided by a deep and wide fosse cut in the rock. A stone bridge of three arches,
on which are some remains of an embattled parapet, supplies the place of the ancient
draw-bridge, and leads to the great gate of entrance. As this was the only access
to the Castle, the original gate was doubtless a very strong work, armed with its
barbican, flanking towers, machicolations, and portcullis, but the present portal is a
more modern erection, of no great strength or beauty, constructed during the pre-
sidency of Sir Henry Sydney. The arch is mean and flat, and the adjacent
building has wide square transom windows, and high pointed gables. Over the
gate, in a niche of a corrupted Grecian style, are the arms of England and
France, beneath which is this inscription :
Anno Domini milessimo quingentessimo
Octuagessimo copleto, anno Regni
illustrissimee ac serenissimse Reginae
Elizabethse vicessimo tertio currente 1581.
Below are the arms of Sydney within the garter, with this inscription :
Hominibus Ingratis Loquimini
Lapides.—Anno Regni Reginae
Elizabeths 23. The 20 Year
Coplet of the Presidency
Of Sir Henrie Sydney Knight
Of the most Noble Order of the
Garter, &c. 1581.
The first view of the interior of the Castle is strikingly fine. The court presents
an irregular square area, not very spacious ; but the lofty embattled structures with
ARCHITECTURAL ANTIQUITIES.
probably the barracks for the garrison, and further on, a square tower with its
entrance from the wall; the embattled rampart, pierced with loops, remains here
and there in picturesque masses. On the left side of the area are the ruins of the
court-house, which had a door outwardly, and beyond it is a lofty semilunar tower,
with its side to the court, flat, and that towards the country rounded : it was probably
built by one of the Mortimers, whose name it bears ; and though now miserably
deformed by the insertion of many modern windows, is still a noble object. This
tower was repaired by Sir Henry Sydney as the important purpose of a depository
for the records of the court.
The main castle stands on the north-western side of the ballium, from which it is
divided by a deep and wide fosse cut in the rock. A stone bridge of three arches,
on which are some remains of an embattled parapet, supplies the place of the ancient
draw-bridge, and leads to the great gate of entrance. As this was the only access
to the Castle, the original gate was doubtless a very strong work, armed with its
barbican, flanking towers, machicolations, and portcullis, but the present portal is a
more modern erection, of no great strength or beauty, constructed during the pre-
sidency of Sir Henry Sydney. The arch is mean and flat, and the adjacent
building has wide square transom windows, and high pointed gables. Over the
gate, in a niche of a corrupted Grecian style, are the arms of England and
France, beneath which is this inscription :
Anno Domini milessimo quingentessimo
Octuagessimo copleto, anno Regni
illustrissimee ac serenissimse Reginae
Elizabethse vicessimo tertio currente 1581.
Below are the arms of Sydney within the garter, with this inscription :
Hominibus Ingratis Loquimini
Lapides.—Anno Regni Reginae
Elizabeths 23. The 20 Year
Coplet of the Presidency
Of Sir Henrie Sydney Knight
Of the most Noble Order of the
Garter, &c. 1581.
The first view of the interior of the Castle is strikingly fine. The court presents
an irregular square area, not very spacious ; but the lofty embattled structures with