Warwick Through the Fog

Warwick Through the Fog

Since the most obvious point to attack was the entrance, steps were taken to make the Gatehouse as strong as possible. Its first defense, the moat (usually a dry one, as at Warwick), had to be crossed by a drawbridge that could be raised by various means, including chains worked by a windlass inside the Gatehouse. The heavy entrance-door, opening outwards and studded with iron bolts, was backed by a portcullis, a great iron frame which could be let down through a slot in the vaulting of the entrance passage. Thus, if the wooden doors were smashed in or burned, the portcullis behind would hold and the defenders could shoot out between its bars.

Should the portcullis fail to be lowered because the mechanism had jammed or through some trick or treachery, the attackers would still find themselves in a roofed passageway in which they could be fired upon from arrowslits on either side and assaulted from above through openings in the ceiling known as murder holes. The passage would be closed at the far end by a second door and portcullis.

All these defenses, except the drawbridge, can be clearly seen at Warwick Castle, which also has, as an additional defense, its splendid barbican. This is a fortified outwork, built on the other side of the moat, so that it had to be attacked and taken before any assault could be launched upon the Gatehouse proper. Visitors who pass through the barbican's outer gateway will readily see that if the attackers did penetrate that far, the still had to advance along a narrow passage towards the Gatehouse, from whose towers and the adjoining walls they would be subject to a murderous fire.

One of the commonest ways of trying to capture a castle was to completely surround it in hope of starving the garrison into surrender. But, since this was necessarily a long drawn-out business, efforts would be made to take the place by storm. As a first step, part of the moat had to be filled with earth or rubble, the soldiers working behind movable shields called mantlets. Next, a battering ram or a sharp pointed bore would be brought up to hammer away at the base of the walls, the soldiers again being protected by a roofed shelter known as a cat. Scaling ladders might be tried, as well as tall siege-towers from the top of which a bridge would be thrown across the battlements. Various siege-engines, such as the ballista and the mangonel, hurled heavy bolts and stones at the defenders but more to be feared was the mine, a tunnel dug beneath the walls and supported by wooden props, until, when all was ready, they were set on fire, so that the tunnel collapsed, bringing down a section of the wall to make a gap through which the attackers could pour into the courtyard.

The Watch Tower

The Watch Tower

Warwick Castle ranks amongst the most famous and daunting castles in the whole world. Its turbulent history even adds to the castle’s mysteriously magnificent aura. This massive stone fortress was constructed as a Wooden Motte and Bailey Castle by William the Conqueror. It was able to survive siege warfare to the Age of Medieval Knights and Chivalry and the English Civil War. One of the castle’s main features is its access to the River Avon. During the enlargement of the Warwick Castle, equipment and building materials were transported by boats to the castle site.

The two main round towers of The Warwick Castle were built at the front of the Castle. The Chapel, as well as a large hall, were also built against the south wall. Various additions were then made as time passed by – The Guys Tower and Caesar’s Tower were added at the end of the 14th century.

Celtic Cross Grave Marker

Celtic Cross Grave Marker

In Ireland, it is a popular legend that the Celtic Catholic cross was introduced by Saint Patrick or possibly Saint Declan during his time converting the pagan Irish, though no examples survive from this early period. It has often been claimed that Patrick combined the symbol of Christianity with the sun cross, to give pagan followers an idea of the importance of the cross by linking it with the idea of the life-giving properties of the sun. However this theory is now thought unlikely by most art historians, who think an origin from crosses carrying a victor's wreath around their intersection is more likely. Such a cross is found on the reverse of the Liudhard medalet from Canterbury in England in the 590s.

A distinctive Insular tradition of erecting monumental stone high crosses began by the 8th century, and possibly earlier. They probably followed earlier versions in wood, perhaps faced in metalwork. Some of these 'Celtic' crosses bear inscriptions in runes. Standing crosses in Ireland and areas under Irish influence tend to be shorter and more massive than their Anglo-Saxon equivalents, which have mostly lost their headpieces, and therefore perhaps required the extra strength provided by the ring. Irish examples with a head in Celtic cross form include the Cross of Kells, Ardboe High Cross, the crosses at Monasterboice, and the Cross of the Scriptures, Clonmacnoise, as well as those in Scotland at Iona and the Kildalton Cross, which may be the earliest to survive in good condition. There are surviving free-standing crosses in Cornwall, including St Piran's cross at Perranporth, and Wales. Other stone crosses are found in the former Northumbria and Scotland, and further south in England, where they merge with the similar Anglo-Saxon cross making tradition, in the Ruthwell Cross for example. By about 1200 the initial wave of cross building came in to an end in Ireland.
A Celtic cross in a 16th century church in Hiiumaa, Estonia

The Celtic Revival of the mid-19th century led to an increased use and creation of Celtic crosses in Ireland. In 1853 casts of several historical high crosses were exhibited to interested crowds at the Dublin Industrial Exhibition. In 1857, Henry O'Neill published Illustrations of the Most Interesting of the Sculptured Crosses of Ancient Ireland. These two events stimulated interest in the Celtic cross as a symbol for a renewed sense of heritage within Ireland.

New versions of the high cross were designed as fashionable cemetery monuments in Victorian Dublin in the 1860s. From Dublin the revival spread to the rest of the country and beyond. Since the Celtic Revival, the ringed cross became an emblem of Celtic identity, in addition to its more traditional religious symbolism. Alexander and Euphemia Ritchie, working on the Isle of Iona in Scotland from 1899 to 1940, popularized use of the Celtic Cross in jewellery.

Bodium Castle

Bodium Castle

Bodiam Castle is a 14th-century moated castle near Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II, ostensibly to defend the area against French invasion during the Hundred Years' War. Of quadrangular plan, Bodiam Castle has no keep, having its various chambers built around the outer defensive walls and inner courts. Its corners and entrance are marked by towers, and topped by crenellations. Its structure, details and situation in an artificial watery landscape indicate that display was an important aspect of the castle's design as well as defence. It was the home of the Dalyngrigge family and the centre of the manor of Bodiam.

Possession of Bodiam Castle passed through several generations of Dalyngrigges, until their line became extinct, when the castle passed by marriage to the Lewknor family. During the Wars of the Roses, Sir Thomas Lewknor supported the House of Lancaster, and when Richard III of the House of York became king in 1483, a force was despatched to besiege Bodiam Castle. It is unrecorded whether the siege went ahead, but it is thought that Bodiam was surrendered without much resistance. The castle was confiscated, but it was returned to the Lewknors when Henry VII of the House of Lancaster became king in 1485. Descendants of the Lewknors owned the castle until at least the 16th century.

By the start of the English Civil War in 1641, Bodiam Castle was owned by John Tufton. He supported the Royalist cause, and sold the castle to help pay fines levied against him by Parliament. The castle was subsequently dismantled, and was left as a picturesque ruin until its purchase by John Fuller in 1829. Under his auspices, the castle was partially restored before being sold to George Cubitt, 1st Baron Ashcombe, and later to Lord Curzon, both of whom undertook restoration projects at Bodiam.