Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/210

 194 Mediceval Military Architecttire. which a few years ago showed round-headed arches, prove this inclo- sure to be of early date, probably one of the earliest additions to the castle, and made by Henry I. No doubt, before the construc- tion of the outer ward, the wall of the Bel was produced so as to unite with those of the castle. M. Deville has discovered a part of this wall worked into the great curtain of the outer ward, which lies in its line, and may still be seen. Looking to the history of this castle, and to the evidence afforded by its remains, it seems probable that the keep is the oldest part of the masonry, and the work of the Conqueror's uncle, Guillaume d'Arques, between the years 103 9- 1043, and it is supposed to be one of the earliest, if not the earliest, of the rectangular Norman keeps known. The chronicle of Normandy, cited by M. Ueville, says of William, " Si fist faire une tour moult forte, audessus du chastel d'Arques " ; as though there had been an earlier castle, which the aspect of the earthworks renders highly probable. To the Conqueror or his immediate successor must be attributed the enceinte of the inner ward and the formation of the galleries. The ditch maybe much older than the western masonry. The inner ward no doubt formed part of the original plan, and it is only the occasional appearance of round turrets upon the wall that leads to the opinion that any time intervened between the actual construction of the keep and of its surroundings. The southern entrance, with its gate and two flanking towers, and one or two of the other mural towers or buttresses, seem to be addi- tions, but of the Norman period, probably the work of the Con- queror's son, King Henry I., who, about 11 23, seems also to have enclosed the Bel. Robert de Thorigny — called also " Du Mont," from his abbacy of Mont St. Michael — a Norman chronicler of the twelfth century, says that King Henry I. " fortified admirably the castle of Arques with walls and a tower." This has been held to show that the whole structure was the work of Henry, who reigned from 1 105 to 1 135, and the extreme boldness of the buttresses and superincumbent constructions of the keep no doubt favour this view ; but, as M. Deville remarks in the same passage, similar reference is made to Gisors, Falaise, and other castles, known to be of earlier date. M. Deville is disposed to attribute the southern gate to Charles V., as he finds a record of 1367, charging cost of transport of 6 " nances " of stone, each of 16 to 18 " tonneaux," from the river to the castle, for the masonry of the new bridge and the new gate of the castle. This material was taken by the king's direction from the dismantled "manoir" of Veules or Weulles, at St. Valery-en-Caux. The accounts of 1378-80 mention the tower on the bridge behind the keep, its drawbridge, axles, ties, "vergues"or levers 18 feet long, and its beams of 9 feet. This was probably the southern drawbridge and gate, including the opening of the communication between this and the basement of the keep. These works are attributed to Charles V. about 1378-80.