Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/336

 312 Mediceval Militaiy ArchitectMre. sort of keep or citadel, being in dimensions rather larger than, and in strength fully equal to, any of the others. This tower, also, is of rather superior and certainly more ornate workmanship than the rest. Its mouldings are all of the best Decorated period, and it was evidently intended for the reception of distinguished visitors. The Well Tower, that next west of the King's Gate, contains a very remarkable well. The well, with a pipe of 5 feet diameter, descends in the thickness of the wall, in which also is the well chamber, whence the well was worked. The whole, both well and chamber, are in excellent order. Unlike the other towers, the base- ment of the Well Tower is entered from the court by a steep direct flight of steps. The reason of this is seen in a postern which opens from the floor of the tower in the wall. It is 16 feet above the bottom of the ditch, serving, probably, as an internal communication with the town. The great kitchen does not now exist. It was of large size and rectangular plan, and extended from the Well Tower to the King's Gatehouse. At one end are seen two curious stone circles, probably intended to carry large iron cauldrons with a space below for a fire. In the side wall, or curtain, are some mural chambers, and a trough with a stone pipe by which water was conveyed from the well-chamber through the wall. There is also the springing-stone of a moulded rib, showing that the kitchen had an open roof. In this wall a straight staircase ascends to the gatehouse, possibly to the cook's bedchamber. Opposite to the kitchen a line of foundations shows the position and dimensions of the great hall, 100 feet by 60 feet. It was built against the south curtain, and extended from the Exchequer to the Prince's Tower, the latter being, probably, at the dais end. From the other end of the hall, a straight staircase led to a postern which opened upon the quay and the river. Caernarvon is mainly built of limestone. The stones are hammer dressed, and roughly squared, and laid throughout in courses. Ashlar is very freely used, and finely cut. The mouldings employed are characteristic of the Decorated period, and the stone has preserved its surface and arris uninjured. The absence of the hall and kitchen, the offices and barracks, and of the cross building separating the two wards, gives an incom- plete and unfinished appearance to the interior of the castle, but this does not affect its military details and those of its towers, gatehouses, and curtains ; these are very perfect and very curious. With the decline of the Decorated period in architecture military defences also began to decline, and the works of Edward III. and his suc- cessors, though often palatial in their grandeur, are never of a purely military type, and in this respect are never equal to those of the earlier Edwardian period. Caernarvon was begun in 1283, immediately upon the execution of David, the last Welsh prince. The first work was that of quarrying the cross ditch, and collecting materials and workmen, the latter being drafted from the English counties. Caernarvon,