Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/36

 INTRODUCTION 16 NORMAN KEEPS round the upper floor, with arches in the inner wall to permit the hall to have the benefit of light from the windows. This is probably the finest hall of any Norman keep in England, and we regret that we are unable to give a view of it, all sketching being most strictly prohibited. The Castle of Rochester (Fig. 1 1) is one of the noblest of the Norman keeps in England. Mr. Clark fixes the date of its erection in 1126. It has the usual pilasters at the angles and on the face of the walls, the former carried up as turrets above the roof. The windows are small, and enriched with Norman ornament. The forework is much destroyed, but shows how the entrance was planned and defended. The stair (Fig. 12) commences on the west face, and has a landing at the north- west angle, where there are the remains of the arch forming the first door, over which there was a tower. FIG. 12. Rochester Castle. Plan of Keep. The stair then continues along the north front till it reaches the level of the first floor. There the entrance to the vestibule was defended by a moveable bridge, with a pit beneath. The staircase was roofed in, and the passage over the drawbridge* was defended by the outer wall, which was carried over the pit on an arch. The vestibule forms an outer post of defence before the entrance to the keep itself is reached. The plan shows the building divided by a wall near the centre. The well is under the centre of this wall, and from it a circular tube in the masonry