attention was paid to their defences, and more to their internal convenience. The introduction of gunpowder, by rendering a lofty wall an evil rather than a safeguard, led to the construction of a description of edifice having no pretension to withstand artillery, and in which the lofty turrets, embattled gateways, and moat of the ancient castle, were combined with the slight wall, exposed roof, and spacious windows of a modern dwelling. This description of building, sometimes called a Castle, but more properly a Hall, belongs rather to domestic than military architecture, although some of them present a very warlike appearance, and were effectively defended under Charles I.
As the country became more peaceful, those who possessed old castles found them inconvenient dwellings. Some were altered, as Powis castle; others pulled down, as Queenborough; and the materials employed in the construction of a new house, as that of the Van from Caerphilly; others left in ruins, as Hedingham, Rochester, Prudhoe, Canterbury; and some were converted into prisons and store-houses, as Portchester and London, Dover and Newcastle.
A sort of Peel-tower, with bold machicolations, as at Hexham and Morpeth, or with bartizans at the angles, as in Tynemouth and Cockle-park tower, continued to be erected and defended on the Northumbrian border, until the union of the two crowns under James, when these also fell into disuse.
Henry VIII., anno 1539, erected a number of block-houses, something between a castle and fort, with a round tower, casemates, embrasures, and a moat, upon the southern coast of England; some of these, as Sawdown, near Deal[1], have been preserved; others, as Brighton, have been destroyed.
Many old castles were hastily repaired during the wars between Charles and his Parliament, and strengthened with earth-work according to the system of that day, as may be seen at Caerphilly; Donnington, Berks; and Dover; these when taken were commonly blown up, and it is to this period that we owe the leaning ruins of Corfe, Bridgenorth, and Caerphilly.
In the absence of ornaments, circles, and buttresses, in the
- ↑ Warblington, Hants, belongs to the reign of Henry VII.; West Cowes, Camber, Fowey Castle, Hurst, Motes Bulwark, Sandford, Sandgate, and South-sea castles, were erected circa 1539, and Upnor in 1549.
