Rochester Castle / by Charles Henry Hartshorne.

  • Hartshorne, Charles Henry, 1802-1865.
Date:
[1863]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Rochester Castle / by Charles Henry Hartshorne. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    with practical wisdom, as well as saintly piety, lie was the cherished correspondent of Anselm, and the beloved friend of Lanfranc. He had rebuilt his own cathedral from ruins, and he is also said to have constructed at the same place a castle of stone. Nor is it improbable that he built a struc- ture of this kind. But, upon perusing the account of the transactions that led to this latter work, it is perfectly clear that the building could not have been the one still bearing his name. The mere fact of his agreeing to build a castle for the sum of sixty pounds in consideration of Rufus restoring to his church the Manor of Hedenham, in Buckinghamshire, is in itself sufficient proof that the present keep, called Gundulf’s Tower cannot be the identical work alluded to. It may by way of illustration simply be said in disproof, that the building could not possibly have been erected for so small a sum. Measure its size with Dover and Chilham,8 and calculate the various sums expended on their erection,9 and it will be seen how little sixty pounds produced in works upon those castles, whilst the tower at Rochester is larger than one and nearly as large as the other. There is, how- ever, other testimony adducible which more directly destroys Bishop Gundulf’s claim to the honor of building this magni- ficent fortress. I allude not now to the conclusions that must necessarily be drawn from its architectural character, since they will receive due attention when that part of the subject is considered ; but rather that whilst the arguments deducible from the foregoing statements tend to invalidate, if indeed they do not quite contradict the legendary associ- ations connected with Gundulf’s fame as a military architect, there is also another notice on record relating to the castle of Rochester, in which the name of its real builder is dis- closed. The most valuable work relating to the early history of the see of Canterbury is the chronicle written by Gervase. He 8 Dover 123 x 108 ft. sq. 95 ft. high. Rochester 103 x 85 Castle Rising 60 x 90 Newcastle 62 x 56 9 Chilham was built 17, 18, 19, and 21 Henry II., from 1171 to 1175, and cost 33 U. 16s. 9cl. Dover was built 14 to 33 Henry II., but chiefly 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Henry II. ; in these six years there was expended on Dover:— 26 Henry II. on walls . 29 „ works 30 31 towers towers towers £ s. d. 165 13 4 129 16 11 131 8 10 299 2 1 207 9 0 151 15 4