Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 29.djvu/25

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SOME ACCOUNT OF GUILDFORD CASTLE.
9

seat, the story of Dives and Lazarus; making a certain figure with beasts on the same seat; and lengthening the chamber of the king's chaplain there."

Also on the 5th May following, the sheriff of Surrey and Sussex is ordered to whitewash the king's hall at Guildford within and without. On the 17th June, 45 H. III., 1261, the king visited Guildford, and doubtless examined and took pleasure in the various improvements and decorations he had ordered. All this luxury was probably confined to the hall and royal apartments in the middle ward, for an entry on the Hundred rolls at the commencement of the reign, shows that the Sussex county prisoners were kept at Guildford, and no doubt in the keep.

In 50 H. III., Prince Edward was at Guildford engaged in putting down Sir Adam Gordon, a soldier who, having been outlawed after Evesham fight, had turned freebooter, and made the Surrey woodlands very insecure. Edward came up with and attacked him between Farnham and Alton, took him prisoner in single combat, got him a pardon, and presented him to the queen then at Guildford. At the end of Henry's reign, 52 H. III., the "King's Mills" were removed further down the stream, probably to the site now occupied by their modern successors.

Edward I. became possessed, in due course, of Guildford, and in 27 Ed. I., 1299, the park, castle, and farm of the town, were assigned as part of the dower of Margaret, the king's second wife, and on her death, 10 Ed. II., they reverted to the Crown. Edward was here, 20th January, 31 Ed. I., 1303, resting on his way from Odiham to Windsor.

In 35 Ed. I., 1306, Henry de Say, keeper of the prisoners indicted at the Sussex Assizes, and lodged in Guildford Castle, petitioned that an officer might be sent to receive their fines and chattels, according to their offences, and that a stronger prison may be provided, the castle being insecure for so many prisoners. The answer, recorded on the rolls of Parliament, is terse. "Si career sit nimis debilis, facias, Custos, emendari; si nimis strictus, faciat elargari; quia Rex non est avisatus mutare locum prisonarum suarum: vel saltem teneat eos in vinculis fortioribus." "Double iron the prisoners" was at one time a usual and certainly an economical way of securing their safety. It is probable that