Page:Hawarden Castle (guide).djvu/7

Rh into the reign of Henry II. commonly replaced these defences by more substantial walls of masonry, which, being of great thickness and solidity, have often remained to the present day, though more frequently they were removed in the reigns of the earlier Edwards, to be replaced by structures of more scientific though less solid design, affording more accommodation within the enceinte. At Hawarden the course of action seems to have been different. Here are no traces of Norman work or of the Norman style, and though the keep is unusually substantial, it bears evidence of being the work of one period, and that the close of the reign of Henry III., or early in that of Edward, his Welsh-compelling son. If this be so, it must be concluded that the Norman barons, who were known to have held Hawarden in the twelfth century, were content to allow its defences to be formed of timber, as any masonry by them constructed would scarcely so soon have needed to be removed.

The keep (A in the plan) very nearly covers the top of the mound. It is circular, 61 ft. across at the base, and originally about 40 ft. high. The base gathers inwards to a height of 5 ft., where the cylinder is 59 ft. across, and from hence to the summit it further diminishes to 57 ft. The interior is vertical, and 31 ft. diameter throughout; hence the wall, which is 15 ft. thick at the base, and 14 ft. a little above it, is 13 ft. at the level of the rampart walk; dimensions of unusual solidity, even at the Norman period, and rare indeed in England under Henry III. or the Edwards.

The exterior is very plain, having neither cordon, nor string course, nor window labels. A little above the ground is a double course of large ashlar blocks of a light yellow sandstone, tying the work firmly together, and higher up are other bonding courses of a less substantial character. The ordinary material is a bluish stone laid as rubble work, with the spaces and joints neatly filled up with spawls and fragments. The battlements have been replaced by a modern wall, but the junction, at the rampart walk, may be readily detected.

The entrance is at the ground level on the north-east side, from the main ward. It is marked by a broad flat buttress, rather Norman in character, which rises vertically from the common base so as to stand out about 18 in. where it dies into the wall about 5 ft. below the battlements. In its