Berkeley, which was originally fininded in the re:gu of Stephen. IS one of the Lest remains we are now possessed of, e kf an ancient feudal castle. But the changes which almost all these buildings have undergone ill subsequent times, may be of by thole. which have taken place at Berkeley. The buildings within the inmost only of the three gates are said to have been the work of Henry 1I. when duke of Normandy ; while the two outermost, with all the buildings Lelcknging to them, except the keep, are referred to the latter end of the reign of Henry 1I. and to those of the second and third Edwards. The hall and the two chapels are of the latter period ; and the great kiteheli, adjoiiiing to the keep, was of the work of 1 1 enry Among the castles which Mr. King has endeavoured to appropriate to the early Norinan period. are those of Notting ham, Lincoln. and Clifford's tower at York, all erected by the Conqueror: I rcbccul. vol. vi. p. :257. The remains of all these, he observes. fully illustrate the Norman mode of constructing such edifices. Tickhil'. in the of Doncaster. appears to have been another of these castles, ibid. •67 : and Pontefract bespeaks a Norman design, with rude and imperfoet alterations. All of these have been erected upon artificial mounts. and nearly cover the whole area of the summit of the respective hills on which they are situated.
Tunbridge castle, in Kent. built be Richard de Clare, about the time of William Eufns, is mentioned by Mr. King, as a specimen of the later Norman structures ; and he has been very accurate, in his des•ription of it ; ibid, :270. Gunduipli, who directed the building or the Towr•r or Lon don, ill 107S, and the castle at llochester. he describes to have introduced a great many judicious alterations, and not only to have increased the security, but the magnificence of on• military piles ; and observes that the castle at Eochester is a complete specimen of all that he (gr•eted. Newark, which Mr. afterwards mentions, is all instanee of a prelate's castle in the of Stephen : and the keep of Knaresborough, of the time or I Ienry III., completes the specimens it may he proper to mention of the irregular styli, of easticdkuilrIiug which prevailed during the hitt rya' between the Norman Conquest and the middle of the thirteenth century.
To these succeeded the ma!mificent piles of Edward I., more convenient and more stately, and containing not only many towers, but great halls, and sometimes even religions houses. The. best style of military architecture ill this period was displayed in the castles of Caernarvon, Conway, and Caerphilly ; and it is sin7idar to observe that many of our more ancient castles were then increased with additions in the same sumptuous style.
After the age of Edward I. we find another kind of castle introduced, approaching nearer to the idea of modern palaces. The first of t;lese was that at Windsor, built by Edward III., who employed William of Wykehani as his architect. This convenient and enlarged style of building was soon imitated, on a lesser scale, by the nobles of the realm ; and two remarkable instances, wherein convenience and magnificence were singularly blended at this period. may be found in the
castles of llarewood and SpotThrd, in Yorkshire. The im provements at Kenilworth alliird another instance of the great enlargement which our castles, during this age, were accustomed to receive : and Naworth, in Cumberland. is another of the best specimens that can probably he referred to. Caistor, in Norfolk, affords the style of Henry the Sixth's reign. It was built by Sir John Fastolf, who died in 1459.
To these venerable piles succeeded the castellated houses; mansions adorned with turrets, and battlement; ; but utterly incapable of defence, except against a rude mob, armed with clubs such staves, on whom the gates might he shut ; yet still mansions almost quite devoid of all real elegance, or com fortable convenience, and fitted only to entertain a herd of retainers wallowing in licentiousness. At the same time, however, they discover marks of economy and good manage ment, which enabled their hospitable lords to support sneh rude revels, and to keep up their state even better than many of their more refined successors. Of these buildings one of the most perfect and most curious, now is 11:nblon Ilouse, in Derbyshire ; castellated and embattled, in all the apparent forms of regular defence ; lint really without the least means of resistance in its original construc tion. The description Mr. King has given of it, Archwo/. vol. vi. p. 347, is, however, too long to be extracted, and too curious to be abridged.
After this kind of building, the magnificent quadrangular houses of the reign of Henry VIII. succeeded ; of which the most beautiful and genuine models, perhaps, were those of Cowdray, in Sussex, and Penshurst, the seat of the Sidney fluidly, in Kent.
Without referring to the stately buildings of Elizabeth's reign, it nay be enough to say, that here end; the history of the English castle. The block-houses of Calshot, Ifurst, Saudown, Sandgate, and South Sea, are the last instances of such buildings ever intended for a stand, and seem strongly to mark the revolution which has taken place in our defen sive system of The total change in military tactics, brought about by the invention of gunpowder and artillery ; the more settled state of the nation, Scotland becoming part of the dominions of the kings of England ; the respectable fboting of our navy, whose wooden walls secure us from invasions ; and the abo lition of tlp. feudal system,—all conspired to render eastles of litt le use or conseqizenee, as fortresses : so the great improve ment in arts and sciences, and their constant attendant, the inerease of luxury, made our nobility and gentry build them selves more pleasant and airy dwellings; relinquishing the ancient dreary mansions of their forefathers, where the mem of light and air was sacrificed to the consideration of strength ; and whose best rooms, according to our modern refined notions, have more the appearance of gaols and dungeons for prisoners, than apartments for the reception of a rich and powerful baron.