This noble and ancient pile was built on the site of Castell Crogen,
about the year 1011. I must here hazard a conjecture concerning this
Castle. I am of opinion that the old Castle of Crogen was then enlarged
and repaired, not entirely rebuilt; as John Myddleton, who communicated a
paper to the Society of Antiquarians on the subject, says it was begun
A.D. 1011, and was finished in 1013, which makes it only about two years,
probably too short a period for the total re-erection of so large an
edifice.
The building is square, and is flanked by four massive bastions or
rounders, one at each corner. There is a fifth in the centre of the
front, of the same dimensions as the others. The length of the front is
about two hundred and fifty feet; the square court or quadrangle within
the walls is about one hundred and sixty-five feet, by one hundred. The
grand entrance is under a lofty arched gateway; the side entrance is by a
double flight of stone stairs, through a postern and colonnade, into the
quadrangle. I measured the walls of the north-west bastion, and found
them more than fourteen feet thick, and all apparently of solid masonry.
The whole of this extensive and ponderous building is of hewn stone.
On the west side of the quadrangle is the door of the dungeon, which in
feudal times has been the melancholy abode of many hapless victims, who
fell under their Lord’s displeasure. There is at the entrance a case or
hollow in the thickness of the wall, for a portcullis; and there are two
places of confinement, one below the other. The first is not formed so
far below the surface of the earth as totally to exclude the light of
day; it being admitted obliquely from above. There is also a fire-place;
so that it is probable this might be a prison for less serious crimes, or
for delinquents of noble quality. The deep dungeon is far below the
first, the descent to it being by forty-two steps; and is said to be as
deep as the walls are high. It is small and circular, and about twelve
or fourteen yards in circumference. The iron doors are now taken away,
and one of oak is substituted, which bears upon it numberless notches,
not, like those of Sterne’s captive, made to mark the days of misery, but
the number of horns of strong ale drank at one sitting by a party
assembled in this place to drink to the health of the Lord of the Castle.
It is a record of the strength of their heads, if not of their attachment
to their Lord. High up in the wall are two iron hooks, fixed to support
a large cheese, which was formerly kept here for the entertainment of
those who choose to visit this gloomy place. The sides of the dungeon
are partly formed of the rock on which the Castle is founded, as is also
the floor.
Returning to the light of the sun, on the adjoining south side of the
quadrangle is the servants’ hall, in which are deposited various ancient
and family relics. The walls are hung round with boar spears, pikes, and
halberts; arquebuses, matchlocks, and other old fire-arms; saddles,
spurs, and various pieces of armour; enormous and curious spoils of the
chace, &c.
Among a variety of deer antlers, is the head of a stag, of which the
following curious story is told:—A young woman, crossing the Black Park
at the early dawn of morning, was assailed by this furious animal. Her
cries for assistance were heard by one of the numerous retainers of the
Castle, whose dwelling was nigh, and he promptly ran to her aid. The
stag, no way intimidated, made fiercely at the man, and gored him to
death. The Black Park is now converted into a colliery.
Opposite to the servants’ hall is the main entrance into the Castle from
the quadrangle. In the large and lofty entrance hall are some fine
paintings, and a superb billiard table. The grand stairs front the
entrance, and lead to the stately apartments of the Castle, which have
been lately renovated in a superior style of elegance by Mrs. Biddulph,
{15} the present inheritor. A saloon, a gallery, and a drawing-room, in
particular, are beautifully finished, and banish from the mind the idea
of a gloomy Castle, which its exterior seems to promise.
The rooms are enriched with some good paintings; and in the saloon are
some finely executed portraits of the family. In this room there is a
cabinet of most exquisite workmanship. The views from the different
windows are inexpressibly beautiful, and are said to embrace a prospect
extending into seventeen counties.
In the civil wars this Castle was besieged by Cromwell’s adherents, and
one of its sides, with three of its towers, overthrown. It is mentioned
as a prodigious exertion of labour, and in which no cost was spared, that
the wing was rebuilt in one year, at the expense of eighty thousand
pounds; which I think strengthens my idea of the present Castle being
only an enlargement and repair of the more ancient Castell Crogen.
About a mile and a half from the Castle stands the pleasant little
village of