Page:Kirby Muxloe Castle near Leicester (1917).djvu/14

8 the Lord Hastinges, the which cumming thither apon a tyme to peruse the ground and lye in the Castel was sodenly repellid by Mr. Harington a man of poure therabout and frende to the Lord Rose. Wherapon the Lord Hastinges cam thither another tyme with a strong poure, and apon a raging wylle spoilid the castelle, defacing the rofes and takyng the leades of them, wherwith they wer al coverid. The Lord Hastinges caryed much of this leade to Ascheby de la Zouche, wher he much buildid. Then felle alle the castelle to ruine, and the tymbre of the rofes onkeverid rottid away and the soile betwene the waulles at the last grue ful of elders, and no habitation was there tyl that of late dayes the Erie of Rutland hath made it fairer than ever it was." This was written about 1540. The old buildings, thus repaired, remained till 1800, when an ill fate brought them into the hands of Wyatt the architect, with the result which may be seen to-day.

The connection of the Hastings family with Kirby lasted till about 1630, when the manor came into the hands of Sir Robert Banaster.

The present owner of the castle is Major Richard Winstanley of Braunstone Hall, who placed the building under the guardianship of the Commissioners of Works in 1911.

The repair and clearing of the castle and its moat was begun in the same year and finished in 1913. The moat, which was partly silted up and partly filled with rubbish, was entirely cleared and its sluices repaired and put in working order. Very little was found during the clearing, beyond a few stones from the parapets; anything that could be used as building material having been taken away from time to time. The tower and gatehouse were covered with ivy, and bushes and trees grew on the wall tops; and only the excellence of the mortar had kept the masonry from complete ruin. The chief damage to the brickwork of those parts of the castle which had survived was at the line of the water level in the moat. The action of frost on the wet masonry had split away the facework to a depth of a foot and more, about five feet in height of the wall being affected. The bases of the walls, having never been exposed to the air, were perfectly preserved for a height of three feet. The facework was repaired, in order to protect the core of the walls against further decay when the moat was again filled with water, with old bricks obtained in the neighbourhood, which without being of the same kind as the original bricks of the castle, were sufficiently alike to harmonize with them. The west and south angles of the west tower were in a dangerous condition, much