Page 269 - Canadian Dominion Directory 1871 - Partie 1-fusionné

d'Abernon (circa 1277) in the of the early fortifications of cities
church at Stoke d'Abernon in and towns such as York, Colchester,
Surrey.
etc. and Hadrian's Wall.
A particularly popular hobby
During the troubled time between
amongst many people is that of the Roman occupation of Britain
brass rubbing which is now forbid- and the Norman conquest the prin-
den in many churches owing to the cipal defences lay in the old Motte
very considerable Wear of the metal and Bailey type castles.
and consequent defacement of the
After the Norman conquest a
mernorial.
great many castles were erected in
various parts of Britain, there were
various types and designs consisting
generally of outer walls protected by
towers and a moat. The gateways
were protected by a barbican or
gatehouse with drawbridges and a
portcullis. Inside the outer crust the
area where garrison Iived was fre-
quentIy divided into two or three
defensive areas each of which pos-
sessed its own defences and this in
turn culminated in the ' keep ' which
initially was built as a square tower
c
and later changed to a round tower.
It was in the keep that the caslel-
lan and the princjpal rnembers of
Castles - The castle was developed his force Iived and it was to the keep
as a natural means of fortification that the remainder of the garrison
for man to protect him~lf and Es retired when the outer defences had
possessions.
fallen.
The early Norman period was the
Examples exist in a few cases of
tirne when most of the English
fortifications existing in Britain in
the pre-Roman ers but from their castles were erected and by the time
position, generalIy on top of a hiIl of King John th~re were as many as
and the consequent difficulty in pro- 127 in existence in England and
viding their inhabitants with water, Wales.
it is not likely that these fortifica-
tions were ever intended to be Château Gaillard - One of the most
manned for lengthy periods of cime. famous of the castles built by
An excellent example of one of Richard 1 on the mode1 of some of
these is Maiden Castle near Dor- those great fortresses in the HO~Y
chester, whose defences extend 4 Land. Ir had three baileys in a line
of a mile in length and 3 of a with deep moats between each. The
mile in width. Part of this structure Chfiteau was the scene of a bitter
dates back to approximately 2,500 siege in 120314 when Roger de Law,
B.C., and it was extended and im- holding the castle on behalf of King
proved in about 250 B.C. John, was besieged by Philip Il of
Roman fortifications consisted France.
more generaliy of fortified walls to
theu camps and an excellent Chatelaine - The wife of a castellan,
example may be seen in the remains mistress of a castle or château.
243