On the left, in a caw byre, is a pillar, all that remains of the once
" faire chapelle." On the right is a high wall built on top of the
up-cast from the deep ditch in front, now a garden, and behind
this wall is the outer bailey now called the Town Ward (flash map)
and used
as gardens. At the farther end of the track is a gate beside a
cottage which has been added to the remains of a strong tower of
later date than the curtain wall. From the gate the path crosses the end of the
deep inner ditch of the original fortification which can be seen on
the right.
Through another gate, which seems to be on the site of an ancient
drawbridge and gate tower, we enter the inner bailey, the main
part of the castle. (Castle Google Map) Across the grass grown area is the great round
tower, a fine example of ashlar work in stone from Cat Castle in
Deepdale, built about a.d 1300. It is wrongly called Baliol's
Tower as it was built after the confiscation of John Baliol's estates
on his abdication as King of Scotland. Round towers were not
introduced until late in the reign of Edward I. The base of the
tower, on the bailey side, is square and seems to be part of the
original stone keep built by Bernard Baliol It is now entered
by a doorway on the ground level where a passage leads to a
garde-robe or toilet.
The walls are 10 feet in thickness and the
ground floor is 20 feet in diameter. This has a curious domed roof
with the stones laid spirally and an increase in height of only 18
inches above the springing from the main wall. The room is
lighted by splayed openings with tall narrow slits. On the right,
a few steps lead to a vaulted chamber in the thickness of the wall
which appears to be Norman work.
From this a flight of stairs
leads to the first floor and what was originally the entrance, and
opposite the stair-head is another garde-robe passage. The room
on this floor is spacious and well lighted, though some of the
windows have been altered and mutilated. From this room a flight
of stairs curves round in the thickness of the wall to the upper
storeys of which there were two. The roof was covered with lead
but this, and the lead from the other buildings, was removed in
the 17th century. In consequence, the wood supports decayed
and collapsed and exposed the interior to the sky. The more
venturesome visitor can get a wonderful view from the top.
Midway up the stairs is the door which led to the battlements
above the great chamber.
Near the round tower, on the south and approached by modern
steps, is an oriel window with Tudor mullions and supported
outside on corbels. This formed part of the Great Chamber and
appears to have been inserted in the 15th and altered in the 16th
century so that no Gothic tracery remains. A slab, forming the
soffit or cover over the window, is carved with a boar, the badge
of Richard III. The boar is enclosed within an interlacing ornament which is now incomplete and the stone appears to have been
brought from some other part of the castle. The view from the
window is magnificent.
Adjoining the Great Chamber was the Great Hall where the
occupants of the castle dined and the affairs of the barony were
administered. It was rebuilt in the 14th century and has two
window openings with tracery of that period. At the southern
end is Mortham's Tower, much of which collapsed early last
century. The lower part is of the 13th century and it was
heightened to five storeys at a later date. The rooms on the upper
floors were approached by a newel or spiral stair.
Google Map
Picture Gallery
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