forests in Herefordshire, and in 1248 he held Little Taynton, in
Gloucestershire, by the serjeantry of keeping Haywood forest, also an
hereditary charge. The forests of Hay, Kilpeck, and Acornbury seem,
from the patent rolls, to have been in his hands 3 Henry III. In 1231,
16 Henry III., Hugh de Kilpeck and William Fitz Warine were two of the
eight lords employed to negotiate a truce with Llewelyn. This seems
positive; but Dugdale says he died about 1207. There is an inquisition
upon him 28 Henry III., 1243–4; but it appears from the fine rolls
that he died before this. He married Egidia, who married afterwards,
says Dugdale, William Fitz Warine. John was the third and last Baron
Kilpeck. He left two daughters, co-heirs, Isabella and Joan. Joan, the
younger, aged seventeen at her father’s death, was the first wife of
Philip de Marmion. She held half the barony of Kilpeck, and left three
daughters, co-heirs. Philip, who was champion of England and a great
supporter of Henry III., left by a second wife a fourth daughter. Each
had a quarter of the barony of Marmion, and the elder three had each a
third of that of Kilpeck. The Frevilles of Tamworth sprang from Mazera,
the second child, and the Ludlows and Dymokes, champions, from Joan,
the fourth.
Isabella, the elder co-heir, seems to have held the castle of Kilpeck
in her share. She married, 28 Henry III., William Waleran. Her seal,
lately found at Ewshot, near Crondall, is engraved in the “Top. and
Geneal.,” i., p. 28, where is an excellent account of her family.
Isabella left Robert, William, and Alice.
Robert Waleran held Kilpeck. He was sheriff of Gloucestershire 30–35
Henry III. He fought for Henry at Evesham, and was governor of the
castles of Cardigan and Caermarthen, and a Baron. In 1262 he composed
a dispute between the Bishop and Chapter and the citizens of Hereford
relating to the assize of bread. He died _s.p._ 1 Edward I., 1273,
leaving apparently Matilda, his widow, no doubt his second wife, who
had dower in Kilpeck manor.
William, brother of Hugh, died before him, leaving Robert, who
succeeded to Kilpeck, but seems to have died 2 Edward II., either
childless, or leaving a son who did not inherit Kilpeck in consequence
of his great uncle’s entail; for it appears that by deed in 1269 Robert
Waleran gave to Alan de Plunkenet, his sister’s son, the reversion
of Kilpeck castle and of the park of Treville and Coytmore, the
forestership of the Hay, and the manor of Hampton. Alan regranted to
Robert for life, and on Robert’s death the lands reverted to Alan, who
did homage. By what tenure Robert, the nephew and last baron, held
Kilpeck, does not appear.
Alice Waleran, sister of the first Robert, married Auchew de la Bere.
Their son Alan bore the name of Plukenet or Plugenet, and became lord
of Kilpeck castle and manor, and was summoned to Parliament 23 Edward
I. He died 27 Edward I., 1299. He was buried at Dore. He was a great
agriculturist, and reclaimed the tract called from him “Alan’s Moor.”
In his time, 13 Edward I., William Butler held a carucate of land in
Kilpeck and the manor and court there; also, 20 Edward I., Philip de
Marmion of Scrivelsby held a fee in Kilpeck. Several fiefs seem to have
been held of the castle; 2 Edward III., Alexander de Freville so held
one-sixth of a fee.
Alan Plugenet, son of Alan, succeeded. He was distinguished in the
Scottish wars, and was also summoned to Parliament. He obtained a
weekly market and annual fair for Kilpeck, and died _s.p._ about 1311,
leaving his sister Joan his heir.
Joan Plugenet, called Joan de Bohun de Kilpeck, held the barony. She
married Edward de Bohun, but died _s.p._ 20 Edward II., or 1 Edward
III., 1327.
Her heir was Richard, son of Richard, and grandson of Sir Richard de la
Bere. He died 19 Edward III., leaving Thomas, his son and heir, aged
30, 27 Edward III.; but Edward de Bohun, who survived his wife, and
probably was tenant of Kilpeck by the courtesy, had licence from Edward
III. to alienate Kilpeck, Treville, and the bailiwick of the Haywood to
James Butler, first Earl of Ormond.
Meantime the elder family continued to hold their shares. Thomas de
Useflete, 5 Edward III., probably a trustee, enfeoffed Richard de la
Bere, of Munestoke, in Kilpeck, which, 2 Edward III., had been held by
Nicholas de Useflete. 17 Edward III., Baldwin de Frevill held Kilpeck
manor; and finally, 18 Richard II., Kinardus de la Bere held the manor
and hundred of Kilpeck for the chantry of St. Mary of Madley.
The Butlers, however, seem to have been substantially the owners. 12
Edward III., James, first Earl of Ormond, held the manor and extent by
the tenure of keeping the forest of Hay, and 13 Edward III. Eleanor,
his widow, held the castle and manor.
As holders of the castle or manor, or both, appear—37 Edward III., Sir
Thomas Moigne; 6 Richard II., James, Earl of Ormond, and, 13 Richard
II., Elizabeth, his widow. 20 Richard II., Sir Richard Talbot and
Ankareta his wife held the castle and manor as one fee of James, Earl
of Ormond, within the land of Irchenfield. The Butlers, however, held
the castle until the attainder of the fifth earl, a Lancastrian, who
was beheaded after Towton in 1467.
In the fifteenth year of Edward IV., the King granted Kilpeck in tail
special to the male heirs of Sir W. Herbert, Lord Herbert (Earl of
Pembroke), for one knight’s fee, and, 6 Edward IV., this grant was
extended in tail general, failing heirs male of the body. After the
earl’s death, in 1469, Edward restored Kilpeck to the Butlers in the
person of John, sixth Earl of Ormond, and it descended to his elder
daughter and co-heir, whose son, Sir George St. Leger, held it in 1545.
After this it was sold, and came into the possession of the Pye family,
of whom Sir Walter held the castle and park. He was a Royalist, and
on the fall of Charles I. the Parliament first garrisoned the castle,
and in 1645 dismantled it. The Pyes followed James II. into exile, and
one of them bore the titular honour of Baron Kilpeck. Probably the
materials of the castle were valuable, for their removal, with the
trifling exceptions mentioned, has been complete, and yet the castle
must have been a considerable place.
KNARESBOROUGH CASTLE, YORKSHIRE.
Among the various windings by which, still bearing its original
British appellation, the river Nidd finds its way from its sources in
Nidderdale and on the flanks of Whernside to its union with the Ouse a
few miles above York, none are more remarkable than those by which it
traverses the ancient forest of Knaresborough, where it lies within a
deep ravine, celebrated, even in Yorkshire, for its happy combination
of wood, and rock, and water.
Near the middle of this part of its course a bold promontory of rock
projects as a rugged cliff towards the stream, rising on its eastern
bank to a height of about 230 feet. Two tributary ravines, to the north
and south of the rock, isolate it from the adjacent high ground, and
become broader and deeper as they descend towards the river, so that
the rock is strongly fortified by nature upon its northern, southern,
and western fronts. To complete the strength of the position nothing
was wanting but a ditch connecting the heads of the ravines and
traversing the neck of the peninsula, and this was long since executed,
and with it the upper parts of the ravines were also rendered deeper
and broader, so that the position, before the use of gunpowder, must
have been well-nigh impregnable.
By whom, or by what people, this formidable platform was first turned
to account, is unknown, but no inhabitants of the district to whom
security was an object could have overlooked its advantages. There is,
however, no actual evidence of either British or Roman occupation,
unless the rectangular area fortified by bank and ditch still to be
traced through the streets of the later town can be accepted, as at
Tamworth and Wallingford, as the work of semi-Romanised Britons; a
people who, having acquired some knowledge of the principles of Roman
castrametation, were yet unwilling or unable to include their strong
places within walls of masonry.
The manor of Cnaresburg is mentioned in Domesday as the private demesne
of the Conqueror, as it had been of the Confessor. Nothing is said of
an “Aula” or a castle there; but, as eleven Berewicks depended upon it,
it is clear that it was, during, and probably long before, the time
of Edward, the centre of a considerable estate, and if, as was usual,
its early lord had there a fortified residence, it would naturally be
placed upon the rugged and knotty platform that bore the descriptive
name of Cnaresburg.
William granted the manorial lands, returned in Domesday as “wasta,” to
Serlo de Burg, Burg being probably the manor now called Boroughbridge.
Burg was a territorial designation, not a regular surname, and does
not appear to have been used by the family. The Pipe Roll, 31 Henry
I., 1130, mentions Serlo as holding lands in Notts and Derby, and
gives the names of Osbert, his son, and of another Osbert, his “nepos”
or nephew, both of whom seem to have died before their respective
fathers. The successor and heir of Serlo was John the One-eyed, whose
son, Eustace Fitz-John, was a Yorkshire Justiciar. He appears in the
same Pipe Roll as farming Burg and Chenardesburg, and to him was
then allowed £11 for the king’s works, evidently upon the castle, at
the latter place. Eustace married Beatrice, a De Vesci heiress, and
their son William assumed that name. Richard FitzEustace, another
son, married Albreda, the daughter and heir of Robert de Lisours, by
Albreda, sister of Ilbert and Henry de Lacy, and aunt and heir of
Robert de Lacy of Pontefract, who died childless, 1193. In consequence,
Roger, Constable of Chester, the son of Richard FitzEustace and
Albreda, took and transmitted the name of Lacy. Eustace had also a
brother, Pain Fitz-John, a considerable Herefordshire landowner, and
ancestor of the Barons FitzPain. With Eustace, who fell in the Welsh
wars in 1159, the family occupation of the castle ceased, and it was
from time to time granted by the Crown to various castellans. One of
these, Hugh de Morville, took refuge here after the murder of Beckett.
It was held also by the Estotevilles, and, in the reign of John, by
Brian de Lisle, who is reputed to have excavated the castle ditch,
and to have repaired or added to the buildings. Henry III. granted the
castle to Hubert de Burgh in fee. Before that time the manor had been
erected into an Honour, and the Honour, the Peculiar, and the forest
of Knaresborough are from time to time the subject of royal grants. In
1257, Henry III. gave them to his brother Richard, who founded a priory
on the river bank below the castle. Edward II. repeated the grant to
Gaveston, about which time the Slingsbys appear as keepers of the
forest. In 1327, the castle was taken for the Earl of Lancaster, but
only to be resumed by Edward III., who, in 1371, granted it to John of
Gaunt, and it has ever since formed a part of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Richard II. was imprisoned here in 1399, and the keep has since borne
the name of the king’s tower, it is said, in consequence. In 1642 the
castle was held for the king, and was the head-quarters of an active
and somewhat unscrupulous body of soldiery. It was, in consequence,
besieged and taken by Fairfax in 1644, and in 1648 was, by the Council
of State, ordered to be slighted, which seems to have been effected by
removing the curtain wall, and blowing away one angle of the keep.
The castle occupied the whole area of the platform up to the edge of
the ditch, the crest of the ravines, and the river cliff. In figure
the plan is an irregular oval, in the proportion of about three parts
east and west, to two parts north and south, and containing about 2½
acres. Close south of, and dependent upon, the castle, was the town.
The area within the line of the town ditch measures about 500 yards
north-east and south-west by 850 yards north-west and south-east,
and includes all the older part of the town. About 170 yards of the
ditch, where it divided the castle from the town, has been filled up
since the dismantling of the castle. The castle was contained within a
great curtain wall 7 feet to 8 feet thick, and of the unusual height
in places of from 30 feet to 40 feet. The keep forms a part of the
_enceinte_, being built upon the crest and slope of the northern
ravine, not far from the centre of that front. The curtain abutted
upon its two ends, so that the building was partly within and partly
outside the area. Connected with its southern angle are some fragments
of masonry showing that the area was divided by a cross wall into an
eastern and western part, the one being the outer and the other the
inner ward, and the keep is so placed that its south-eastern face looks
upon the outer, and its south-western and north-western faces upon the
inner ward.
Very nearly the whole both of the curtain and cross wall are gone,
but the projection from the northern angle of the keep shows that the
curtain, at that point at least, was about 40 feet high and at least
11 feet thick. It would seem that the curtain had originally no mural
towers, for these, in the shape of half-round or segmental solid
buttresses, have been added, built against the face of the curtain,
the removal of which has laid bare the rough face of the applied work.
Leland speaks of eleven or twelve of these buttress towers. There
remain at present only six. They have all been faced with ashlar.
Upon one is a good stringcourse of Perpendicular date, and on another
is seen the shaft of a garderobe, the upper part of which must have
been on the battlements. Two of the largest of the buttresses are
placed opposite to the town, about 21 feet apart, forming a sort of
solid gatehouse, and flanking the main entrance to the castle through
the outer ward. The gateway was 18 feet wide and at least 18 feet
high to the springing. The arch is gone. The square groove for the
portcullis remains, and within is a rebate for the door. Outside in
the northern jamb is a hole as for the heel of a drawbridge, but there
is no corresponding hole on the other side, so that the indication
is probably deceptive. A drawbridge there must have been, but it was
possibly more advanced. Leland also mentions a subterranean passage
opening upon the slope of the ditch, but this, of which nothing is now
known, was probably a sewer. In the inner ward is the house in which
are still held the courts for the Honour. This is a modern building,
but it contains an original Decorated doorway, and a large fireplace,
plain, but probably of the same date. There is said to have been a well
near this, now lost, and local tradition describes a chapel as having
stood near the courthouse.
[Illustration: PLAN OF DUNGEON.
ELEVATION OF KEEP FROM INNER WARD.
Wyman & Sons, Gᵗ. Queen Sᵗ. London.]
The principal interest of the building centres upon the King’s Tower
or keep, of which the remains are considerable. It may be described
as rectangular in plan, 64 feet north-west and south-east by 52 feet
north-east and south-west, or nearly square. Its symmetry is, however,
broken by the cutting off of the north angle. Also the whole of the
eastern angle is gone, and it is a question how far out this extended,
and with much of the north-east side, the whole south-east end, and the
angle between them are gone, but enough of the two other sides remains
to show the general plan and details of the building. [B. Fig. _a._]
The western angle is capped by a cylindrical turret of solid masonry, 6
feet diameter, and, at present, 52 feet high. It was probably, together
with the main building, about 10 feet higher. This was the height from
the level of the inner ward; the absolute height of the keep, measured
from the dungeon floor, was about 16 feet more, or about 78 feet or 80
feet.
The principal or south-west is also the most perfect front, and that
which looks into the inner ward. It is here seen that the keep was
composed of a sub-basement below the court level; a basement at the
level; a first or main floor; and an upper floor: the lines of floor
being indicated by two stringcourses or mouldings.
The sub-basement consists only of the dungeon. [A. Fig. _a._] The
entrance is by a sunken doorway, approached by a descending flight
of steps. It is placed 14 feet from the western turret, and the top
of the doorway arch shows just above the ground level. The doorway
opens into a vaulted passage, down which twelve steps lead to a second
doorway, that of the dungeon. This may be described as a square of 23
feet, of which the two north-eastern angles are cut off, reducing one
end to a sort of apse of three faces of 9 feet 6 inches each. In the
centre is a plain cylindrical pier, 3 feet diameter, with a chamfered
base, but no cap, from the head of which branch out twelve ribs, plain
and substantial, with a slightly hollow chamfer. They are arranged in
groups of three, separated by four rather wider openings, of which two,
including the two right angles, are traversed by diagonal ribs, so that
the plan of the vault is an octagon. There is an air-hole 3 feet square
in the north wall, whence a passage, slightly zigzag, and 14 feet long,
ended in a loop, now broken down. There seems also to have been a
garderobe, as the mouth of a sewer is seen outside at the foot of the
wall, 10 feet below the loop.
The basement floor contains three chambers, entered from the inner ward
by three doors. [A. Fig. _b._] Of these a narrow one of 2 feet opening
placed close to the turret leads by a vaulted passage 3 feet long into
the record-room. [B. Fig. _a._] This is an L-shaped chamber, of which
the arms are 6 feet 6 inches broad, and on the longer sides 12 feet,
and on the shorter 5 feet 6 inches, one limb being a few inches the
larger. In the north-west wall is a loop for air. Each limb is crossed
by a plain chamfered rib, and the square space thus formed, common to
the two limbs, is crossed diagonally by a single rib. This chamber was
recently used as a debtor’s prison.
Next to the record-room, and nearer the centre of the front, is a large
window, of which the ashlar casing and tracery have been removed, and
the cill cut down to convert it into a door. At present the aperture is
6 feet broad and 13 feet to the crown of the arch. Close to, but beyond
this, is the original doorway, now blocked up, but quite perfect.
It was of 5 feet opening with a low drop arch, and over it a good
Decorated drip stone or hood moulding. This door led into the kitchen.
[B. Fig. _a._]
The kitchen may be described as a square of 24 feet, having applied to
its north-east side an apse of three faces of 8 feet each; or it may be
called a rectangle of 24 feet by 30 feet, with two of its angles cut
off so as to form an apse.
This chamber is also vaulted after a peculiar fashion. Twelve feet
from the apsidal end is an octagonal pier, from the head of which
spring eight ribs at equal angles. At 6 feet from the pier, that is,
at the crown of the vault, each rib is met by two others, sixteen in
number, which spring from eight half piers or responds in the angles of
the wall. There are, however, actually only six of these wall piers,
two being replaced by a different arrangement, rendered necessary by
the oblong form of the chamber, which leaves a space 6 feet by 24
feet to be covered in. Of this space one third, being the western
angle, is solid, and, in fact, contains one limb of the record-room.
The remainder is divided into two square bays, vaulted diagonally.
Between this compartment and the larger one stands a second pier, which
receives the thrust of three ribs from the main pier, and has five
ribs besides of its own. The general result is not unpleasing, but
the vaulting is exceedingly complex, containing eight rhombs and
eighteen triangles, great and small. The height to the crown of the
vault is 12 feet. Besides the great window towards the inner ward is a
small opening, probably a loop, though now enlarged, towards the ditch.
The fireplace occupies one of the north-western bays. It is 7 feet
broad, and the grate stood in a half-round recess of 3 feet 6 inches
radius, with a vertical flue in the wall. From the kitchen open two
smaller chambers and a well-stair. One of these, plainly vaulted, and
11 feet by 7 feet, is placed in the south-east wall. It is entered by a
small door from the side of the kitchen, and near the door is a loop,
also looking into the kitchen. This was probably the cook’s bedroom.
[Illustration: KNARESBOROUGH KEEP.
Wyman & Sons, Gᵗ. Queen Sᵗ. London.]
A second chamber, 8 feet by 9 feet, also vaulted, is placed in the
north wall, and is entered by a small and much mutilated doorway and a
short oblique passage. This chamber has a loop towards the ditch, and a
garderobe, the outlet from which seems to join that from the dungeon.
The staircase is contained within the wall at the south angle of the
chamber, and is lighted by two loops from the inner ward. It is entered
from the kitchen by a small door opening into a straight passage,
whence the well-staircase rises. This leads to both the first and
second floor, and has a stone hand-rail carved in the wall. It is 2
feet 6 inches radius.
There remains only in the basement to be mentioned the Porter’s Lodge.
[B. Fig. _a._] It is composed of a couple of cells, at present occupied
by the keeper of the castle. The outer cell is entered by a small
door very near to the passage between the outer and inner ward. The
hollow angle formed by the junction of the cross wall with the keep
is crossed by a squint, or oblique arch, which supports a bartizan
turret above, and affords a sort of hood over the door. The outer cell,
vaulted, measures 12 feet by 9 feet. One angle is filled up. There is
a small two-light window towards the inner ward. From this cell a door
opens into an inner cell, 7 feet by 8 feet, also vaulted, and with a
small window or sort of loop, now broken down, which is formed in the
south-east wall, and seems to have opened beneath the first arch of
the bridge which carried the ascending road from the outer ward to the
level of the first floor of the keep.
The first or main floor of the keep presents its chief peculiarities.
[B. Fig. _b._] It is, or was, a rectangular chamber 24 feet 6 inches
by 31 feet, and 19 feet high to the boarded floor of the room above.
The north-west end, which is tolerably perfect, is wholly occupied by a
segmental arched recess with a handsome moulding. It is 2 feet 9 inches
deep, and contains a sort of table or shelf 2 feet high and of 1 foot
projection, the upper part of which is hollowed into a narrow trough,
as though for animals to drink from, had it been a little broader. It
is much broken, so it does not appear whether it was provided with a
feed-pipe and drain. What it was intended for it is difficult even to
guess. The wall is broken, and within it is seen the flue from the
kitchen fireplace below. Above, a weather-moulding in the wall shows
that at some time there was a low-pitched roof.
Of the adjacent north-east side only about 12 feet remains. It is
chiefly occupied by a large fireplace, 7 feet broad by 4 feet deep.
It was flat-topped and quite plain. The wall has been broken down
and the flue is disclosed. Next south of this is the jamb of a bold
arched recess which runs through the wall, 14 feet deep, and must have
contained a large window opening over the ditch.
With the eastern angle is also gone the south-eastern side. Much
of this must have been occupied by a large doorway, of which the
south-west jamb remains, and its external and internal mouldings, in
the Decorated style and of a very elaborate character. The wall was
10 feet 6 inches thick, and in its centre, half-way between the two
moulded arches, is a rectangular portcullis groove. It is evident that
this was a regular gateway, fortified in the usual manner, and, as what
remains of the arch shows, of a large size.
The south-west wall, which is tolerably perfect, contains at its north
end a door of the same size as that just described, saving that there
is no portcullis, which, this being the inner gate, was not needed. The
wall is here 11 feet thick, giving a very deep recess 10 feet broad,
in which the doorway was placed. It is panelled and 15 feet high to
the arch crown; the recess narrows to 7 feet 6 inches width, which was
that of the doorway. The doorway is richly moulded, and the mouldings
are continued down to the cill, showing that it was a door, and not,
as some suppose, a window. There was, however, tracery in the head, of
which a fragment remains, but not enough to show the pattern. In the
jambs are a set of stanchion-holes, too large for the rods by which
window-glass was usually supported, and which are evidently the remains
of the bars inserted when the keep was used as a prison. The outermost
hollow of the mouldings contains a band of delicate ball-flowers. There
is also a handsome drip supported by two heads as corbels.