Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 7.djvu/356

OjG CAERNARVON CASTLE. in the 14th year is the cost of a man blowing a horn for nine weeks, at 1^. per week, to call the men to their work ; an entry of a similar kind occurs two years previously ; there is also an entry of 2^. Gd. for straw to cover the lodging of the masons ; and upon another document, preserved else- where, there is a memorandum of payment to Thomas, the smith, for working one iron cramp for the large stones, beyond the gate of the Castle, for holding up the sculptured image of the king.^ The Chamberlain's returns of the 15tli of Edward 11. are the last we meet with on the subject of building, and they are b}^ no means the least important, as they prove that by this year the Castle was entirely finished, and that four carrates of lead (carratas) were used in covering the great o-ate of the Castle and the two towers on either side of the same entrance, and in mending the defective roof of the Exchequer and other towers, at different times within the same period. (15-16 Edward II.) ^ The Castle was commenced at the north-east corner, and gradually went on to the south-west, the masonry between these points being apparently the same, Edward I. proceeded with the works till we reach the lofty curtain-wall to the south-east of the Eagle Tower, where a stringcourse indicates the beginning of fresh operations, wliilst the mouldings and masonry henceforward show a different style. So that the erection of this grand fabric was commenced in the 11th year of Edward I. (1283), and carried on at different intervals till it was advanced to probably its greatest height of perfection in the 15th of Edward II. (1322) ; thus extending over a term of thirty-eight years. There remains another misapprehension respecting its erection, to be noticed ; namely, that the see of York was kept vacant seven years, and its issues applied to meet the expenses of building this noble fabric. It is sufficient refu- tation of this idea simply to state that the see of York was never void for any greater length of time than was officially necessary for the appointment of a new metropolitan ; and so far from Edward I. having seized upon the revenues of the Church to raise money for building his Welsh castles, it is more than probable the cost of their erection was " " Thome fabi'o oper.anti 1 crampon ferri pro magiiis pctris ultra portam castri ad vmiiginem Regis talliatam simul tenendum." ^ In the Chapter-house.