increase, that in the reign of Stephen, or within a century after the arrival of the Conqueror, there are said to have been one thousand one hundred and fifteen castles completed in England alone: the whole kingdom was covered with them, and the poor people worn out with building them. Their increase was, however, soon prohibited by a law forbidding the erection of any castles without a license from the king. Many of the castles of this age were of great size. Instead of a single tower, they consisted of several towers, both round and square, united by walls, enclosing a space called a court-yard, the entrance to which was usually between two strong towers. The whole building was surrounded with a moat or ditch, across which a drawbridge led to the massive doors, which were covered with plates of iron, and in front of them an iron grating, or portcullis, was let down through deep grooves in the stone-work; whilst, overhead projected a parapet, resting on brackets, and with openings, from which melted lead and hot water could be poured, or stones thrown, on the heads of the assailants, who should attempt an entrance by forcing, or as was the usual mode of attack, by setting fire to the doors. The gateways of Caerlaverock, Tunbridge, Conway, Carisbrook, and Caernarvon, are good specimens of this kind. A principal tower, or keep, rose preeminently above the rest, and generally from an artificial mount. It contained the well of water, without which the

garrison, when besieged, could not hold out in this their last place of refuge. The keep also contained a subterranean prison, and several stories of apartments communicating by a staircase either in the walls, or built on the outside of the tower. By way of illustration, we subjoin a view of Tunbridge Castle, as it remains to this day. It was built by one Richard de Tonbridge, a follower of William the Conqueror. The present fragment is the towered entrance-gate. The whole building was surrounded with a moat, and the exterior walls enclosed an area of about six acres. In the engraving are seen two massive towers flanking an arched gateway, with walls of great thickness,

and having no other openings than long narrow slits, called oilets, through which, when besieged, archers shot their arrows. In front of

this entrance there was formerly a drawbridge thrown across the moat, and raised at pleasure, when it formed a strong door, closing up the archway. This opening was again guarded by two portcullises, (or gratings like a harrow,) let down from above, and two thick doors extending across the entrance. The towers appear to have been divided into four stories, or floors, the lower being dungeons or prisons, and the upper formed into a large and noble hall, extending the whole width and depth of the two towers. It was lighted by two large windows towards the inner court. These towers are supposed from their style to have been built in the time of King John, or Henry III. The windows were not glazed, but had iron bars; the floor and ceiling were of immense thickness, the latter three feet. Branching off from this tower entrance are curtain walls to the right and left ; the first extending up the side of a lofty hill, whereon was the keep-tower or chief residence of the baron: to this, it is presumed, he retreated when other parts of his castle were taken by an enemy.

After the age of Edward III. the castle became more like a mansion. The courts were multiplied. A space called the tilt yard, surrounded by stables and domestic offices, occupied one court. A second gateway led from thence into the inner court, which was often double, and surrounded on each side by spacious and magnificent apartments, as the hall, the banqueting

room, the chapel, with galleries of communication, and numerous sleeping chambers. The windows were often large and beautifully ornamented, but always high above the ground, and looking inwards to the court. The keep was entirely detached, and independent of these buildings. Such was the royal palace of Windsor erected by Edward III.; and such the splendid castles of Warwick, Ludlow, Spofford, Harewood, Alnwick, Kenilworth, Ragland, and many others.

As the character of the times became more peaceful, and law succeeded to the reign of the strong hand, a still further change took place in the construction of these dwellings. They retained the moat and battlemented gateway, and one or two strong turrets, but they were ill calculated to withstand a siege. They were

generally quadrangular, (or four-sided) in form, the larger class enclosing two open courts, of which one contained the stables, offices, and lodgings of the household; the second, the principal or state chambers, with the hall and chapel. The windows were large and lofty, reaching almost to the ground, and several of them opening to the gardens on the outside of the building, though these were enclosed by high battlemented walls, and a moat. These are called embattled mansions, of the time of Henry VII. and VIII.; and some of the richest specimens extant are Wingfield Manor-house, in Derbyshire; Cowdray, in Sussex; Kelmingham Hall, in Suffolk;

Penshurst, in Kent; Deene Park, in Northamptonshire; and Thornbury Castle, in Gloucestershire. This period of transition from the castle to the palace is considered the best style of English architecture. The cut shows one of the highly ornamented embattled mansions, of which we have just spoken, viz. Wingfield Manor-house, built about the year 1440, nearly

in the centre of Derbyshire. It originally consisted of two square courts, one of which contained the principal apartments, and the other the offices. In the engraving is seen the principal entrance, and the end of the great state apartment, or hall, lighted by a small circular and a rich pointed window.

Hitherto we have spoken but of the residences of the nobility, which, in truth, resembled palaces.