Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/304

 282 MedicBval Military Architecture. scarped, and a part of the material employed to give an artificial top to the hill. This is somewhat of an oval, and seems to have had a sort of mound at its east end, now occupied by a modern castellated house. The slopes are steep, especially towards the west, and they are broken by narrow terraces, now walks, but which may have been ditches. The approach is by a sort of causeway on the north-east or least steep side. The summit and sides of the work are converted into a house and gardens, but the general arrangement of the original hill can readily be detected. It must have been very strong, and resembles generally Devizes and similar works of English origin. Probably this is the site of the "nova domus" of Earl Roger, as it was the seat of his English prede- cessor. It is a very curious work, and deserves to be surveyed on a large scale by the officers of ordnance. It may be mentioned that in the courtyard is a small passage cut in the rock, at an angle of forty- five degrees, and which descends by ninety-four steps to a well, whence the house is supplied. The passage is evidently an addition, the original well shaft descending, as now, vertically from the surface. A little north-west of the castle, towards Bridgenorth, the tail of a piece of detached highish ground has been cut off by a trench, near a place called, in the inch ordnance, " Dog in the Wall." It seems to have been a light temporary work for the accommodation of a small body of men. On the same road, two miles south of the town, is Quatford, close to the parish church of that name, where the road crosses a steep ridge in deep, but probably modern, rock cutting. The ridge abuts upon the Severn, in a bold rocky promontory about 70 feet high. Upon it is thrown up a mound about 30 feet high, and mainly artificial. It is circular, and about 60 feet diameter on the top, which has been much cut about, 'probably for modern purposes. The sides are steep, about three quarters to one in slope. This mound is divided from the root of the promontory by a trench cut in the rock about 12 feet deep and 12 feet broad, which extends from cliff to cliff, and includes about three-fourths of the mound. Outside this ditch and to the east of it is an area of irregular figure, governed by the outline of the ground. Its north and south sides are defended by a ditch, which to the south is deep and wide. This probably included the east side, but is now superseded by the hollow road. The area is not very large, and would perhaps accom- modate about two hundred men. West of and beyond the road is the church, a building with some Norman remains. It stands rather higher than the camp, and its churchyard would, with a little care, have formed a part of and doubled the area of the camp. Whether it ever did so it is difficult to say, probably not. The ford, which gives part of its name to the village, is still in use when the river is low. It crosses the Severn below the camp. This camp is omitted in the ordnance map, and of the earthwork