Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/24

8 Mediæval Military Architecture in England. was quite aware of the interest which attaches to earthworks, gives plans of but few of them, and says very little about the details of the castles. To come down to the latest period, even Raine, Hodgson, and Eyton, in their histories of Durham, Northumberland, and Salop, so copious and so accurate in all matters of record, pass by with but short notice the various earthworks and castles in which those counties are so rich, and the details of which would be so valuable. We look in vain in the pages of these writers for any general conclusions as to the age, style, and points of resemblance or difference between these works, points which certainly fall within the province of the topographer.

The great work of King, the " Munimenta Antiqua," three-quarters of a century or more older than most of the above, and full of absurd theories, misplaced learning, and fanciful and incorrect descriptions, recognises the importance of plans and details, and although those given with great show of accuracy are often very incorrect, they are worth a good deal, and with all its absurdities the book is on the whole valuable. The " Vetusta Monumenta," a work of the same school and period, includes a few castles, and gives plans and sections of two, the Tower and Hedingham, correctly, and in great detail. Unfortunately, these large and needlessly expensive plates are accompanied by no proper descriptions. The voluminous works of the industrious Britton include very few castles, but what there are, as Rochester, Kenilworth, and Castle Rising, are drawn and planned with extreme accuracy. The drawings of Grose and the brothers Buck serve to show the condition of many English castles a century ago, though the descriptions of Grose are poor, and his drawings are by no means clear. Buck's perspective is very incorrect, but this allows of the bringing into view more of a building than can really be seen at once, which has its advantages.

Since the rise, during the last twenty years, of numerous county archaeological societies, castles have received more attention ; but no distinct work has appeared upon English castles, though many of the most remarkable are noticed by Mr. Parker in his excellent works on domestic architecture. More recently has appeared the book of the late Mr. Wykeham Martin upon his ancestral castle of Ledes, a work not only well illustrated and furnished with an excellent ground-plan, but in which the architecture and arrangements of the fortress are treated in a scientific manner, and his conclusions supported, in many instances, by original documents.

England contains many curious and some grand examples of military architecture ; but that insular position and those