used as a target,[234] and thus wantonly defaced. Over the fire-place,
as shown in the engraving, is the letter W. worked in brick.
<g>Roof.</g>--The geometrical roof, which once covered this noble hall, is
allowed by all writers on the subject to have been of admirable
construction. It was of Irish oak of the best quality, nicely adjusted,
elaborately carved, and so ingeniously framed and fastened together,
that the whole appeared as firm as if it had been chiselled out of a
solid block; yet withal so lofty, so light and airy in appearance, that
it seemed rather to be suspended from the sky above, than to rest upon
the corbel heads and walls which it covered and adorned. In the centre
was a gothic louvre adorned with painted glass, through which the
descending light streamed upon the assembled guests--their arms,
dresses, and accoutrements, in all the colours of the rainbow.
At the lower end of the hall is the Buttery, an apartment, thirty-two
feet long by eighteen broad; and attached to this is another of equal
dimensions, called the Pantry.
<g>Officers’ Barracks.</g>--Opposite the door of the great Hall, on the south,
was a range of apartments, used as lodgings for the superior officers of
the garrison. During the siege these were razed to the ground by the
enemy’s artillery; so that the area on which they stood is now
confounded with that of the Fountain Court. The latter apartments are
distinct from those already described.
<g>The Chapel.</g>--The Baronial Chapel stands in the rear of the apartments
named. It is a long narrow structure, running parallel with the great
Hall, and forming the north side of the Fountain Court; but the vestiges
that remain convey no distinct notion of its architectural style and
decorations; which were, no doubt, in harmony with other sacred
buildings of that age and its character of a baronial chapel. If,
however, we may form any opinion from two rudely carved stone
effigies[235] projecting from the wall on the north side, and nearly
covered with ivy, we should form but a very unfavourable estimate of its
ornamental sculpture: unless, indeed, the deformity they exhibit be the
result of wilful violence; and as they are at a good height, and not
approachable in the ordinary way, we had no means of ascertaining the
fact by close inspection. But the corbel heads, from which the arches
sprung, do not appear to justify a more favourable opinion; for the
workmanship exhibits neither skill in the design, nor spirit in the
execution. The Chapel, therefore, was of a date perhaps much anterior to
the surrounding buildings, and coeval with that of the Keep, or “Tower
of Gwent,” a work of the eleventh century.
<g>The Fountain Court.</g>--This court was formerly adorned with an equestrian
statue, mounted on a lofty pedestal, and embellished with a
fountain--the water for which was brought at great expense from the
neighbouring hills--and, after being thrown up in jets-d’eau, was
conveyed into the fish-ponds adjoining, so as to combine in its progress
the useful with the ornamental. But the pedestal, the marble basin, and
the statue, with every other fragment of the structure, have
disappeared. The pipes that conveyed the water have been ploughed up in
the fields adjoining the castle; but the classic beauty of the fountain
lives in the history and traditions of the place: and from a laughable
incident related in the “Apophthegms,” and which will be found in
another portion of this work, we may infer that the Marquess of
Worcester took great pleasure in this kind of embellishments.[236]
<g>South-west Tower.</g>--Ascending the flight of steps commencing at the grand
entrance, on the south side of the court, we were conducted through the
desolate apartments, known traditionally as those occupied by Charles
the First, after his flight from Naseby. This tower, and the whole range
of apartments connected with it, are in a state of complete
dilapidation; and were it not for the wooden scaffolding that secures
and facilitates the visitor’s progress, a tour of the ramparts would be
impracticable. A lady, we were told, who happened to be near this spot
during a rather high wind, was blown over the wall; but an umbrella,
which she had fortunately open in her hand, acted like a parachute, and
broke her fall; and thus she alighted among the shrubs beneath without
sustaining any material injury.
In these royal apartments, we were shown a tunnel, like a chimney, in
the wall of the king’s chamber, communicating with the outer rampart, by
means of which, in case of surprise or danger, the royal fugitive could
have been lowered in a basket, and enabled to make his escape beyond the
walls. Had a similar contrivance existed at Carisbrook, it would have
served his purpose better. But there he was indeed a prisoner. Here he
had the lives and services of a whole garrison at his command; with
Worcester himself, the most devoted friend the king ever possessed, to
provide against every danger, and supply every want.
A light and elegant stone window is here pointed out as that to which
the king often resorted, on account of the richly variegated and
extensive view which it commands of hill and dale, wood and water;
trees, hamlets, and farmhouses, covering a rich and well-cultivated
tract of land. These natural beauties are as fresh as ever; while the
splendid building, from which he then
[Illustration: _Gateway in the Fountain Court._