Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/101

 Mediceval Military Architechire in England, 85 THE CASTLES OF ENGLAND AND WALES AT THE LATTER PART OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY {continued). I ^HE castles of the shires of Nottingham and Derby, of X Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire, complete the tale of the fortresses south of the Tees and Lune. Nottingham, one of the castles ordered and possibly built by the Con- queror, on a rock high above the Trent, contained one of the grandest of the rectangular keeps. It was removed in the seventeenth century, and replaced by a building of about the same dimensions, but of very different character. At the foot of the rock were the two mounds thrown up in the tenth century to command the passage of the Trent, but these also have been removed. Another castle upon the Trent was that of Newark, the work of Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, in the twelfth century. The very considerable remains include the front towards the river, an imposing mass of masonry, the effect of which is heightened by the great gatehouse upon its flank, a Norman work of very unusual size and splendour. The ground plan of this castle is nearly square, and may represent a Roman encampment. There was a castle at Worksop. The oldest and most remarkable of the Derbyshire castles is that of Castleton or Peveril in the Peak, with its small but strong rectangular keep, built on the edge of the precipice, at the base of which is the celebrated cavern, one of the marvels of the Peak. Bolsover, now nearly all rebuilt, was also a Peveril castle. Of Sheffield, the castle of the Furnivals and Talbots, placed upon the junction of the Sheaf and the Don, nothing now remains. There seem to have been early castles, or perhaps fortified houses, at Codnor, a Zouch seat, Mel- bourne, and Gresley. Also Bogis and Hareston were Derby- shire castles in the reign of Henry IL The wide expanse of Yorkshire contained much worthy of defence, and was inhabited by a race of men not indisposed to provide it. The mounds of York, both of the first class in bulk and elevation, were posted on either bank of the Ouse, here a deep and broad stream. Of these mounds, one stands CHAPTER VH.