Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/163

 MedicEval Military Architecture in England, 147 HE transition from the Norman to the Early Engh'sh 1 style, which in ecclesiastical architecture constitutes a period of great interest, is by no means, at least in England, so strongly marked in buildings of the military type. The rectangular and circular or polygonal keeps, with their Norman features, retained their hold upon English castle- builders through the reigns of Stephen and that of Henry H., 1135-1189, or for a century and a quarter from the Conquest, or even later. At Dover, the dog-tooth ornament and a bead moulding, combined with very decidedly Norman features, mark the Transition period, as do the ornamental details of the rectangular keep of Helmsley, and the particulars of the shell-keeps of Tamworth and York. The later keeps are known by the increased depth of the pilasters, which become buttresses, as at Dover and Clun, and in the twelfth-century keep of Chambois (Orne) ; sometimes by their improved and fine-jointed ashlar, as at Hedingham ; by a more frequent use of the stone of the district instead of that brought from Caen ; by the presence of ribs upon the groins of the hip-vaulting of the galleries and mural chambers ; by the use of nook-shafts at the exterior angles, as at Scarborough and Castle-Rising ; and by the greater tendency to ornament about the rib bosses, door cases, window recesses, and fireplaces ; and by the more or less Early English character of such ornamentation. The portcullis is perhaps less rare in the later keeps. There was, however, little change in the internal arrangement so long as the Norman outline was retained, and but little tendency, so far as the keep was concerned, towards flanking defences. Passive strength is still relied upon. Little is known of the castra adtdterina, of which so many score were constructed during the reign of Stephen, and destroyed by his successor. They could scarcely be of the solidity of the Norman keeps, else their demolition would have been a more difficult task. They were probably either of timber, or mere walled enclosures of no great strength. Few, if any of them, represented the chief seats of large CHAPTER XL CASTLES OF THE EARLY ENGLISH PERIOD. L 2