Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/389

Caste II Cock, Glamorgan. 359 those exposed to any foe from beyond sea — nearly inaccessible. Across the north-eastern side, lines of circumvallation have been hewn out of the rock, the dimensions of which show the value attached to the place, as a fortress, by the Cymry. There was reason in the choice. From hence the long ships of the Danish rovers could be seen while yet distant from the shore, and timely notice be given, and protection afforded to, the people of the plain, should the ravagers extend their sweep far inwards from the coast. A beacon fire upon the headland of Penarth — celebrated in Anglo-Norman verse for its ancient oak, and long marked by its white church — answered here, or on the opposite Garth, would be repeated from the summits of the distant mountains of Brecon and Caermarthen, and would at once spread the tidings of invasion over the whole of the southern coast. The Normans, within a century and a half after the conquest of Glamorgan, had completed a chain of castles along the plain country, from Chepstow to Pembroke, and were only exposed to the invasions of the Welsh from the mountain tracts upon the north. To check these they threw up a number of fortresses, either upon, or within the verge of, the hill country, of which Morlais and Castell Coch may be cited as examples. The site of the Cymric camp was far too difficult of access to allow of the ready transport into it of provisions, or munitions of war, or of a constant and rapid communication with the chief castle at Cardiff. Lower down the scarp, though still high above the plain, the Norman engineer selected a natural platform on the limestone rock, separated from the main scarp by a natural depression, and sufficiently removed from the summit to be out of the reach of any military engines with which the Welsh were likely to be acquainted, or which they were likely to be able to bring, with their forces, against the castle. There is an easy approach to this platform from the east, which probably communicated with the old road, called Roman, and no doubt Cymric, which leads direct from Cardiff to Rubina, and close upon which is the low circular mound, which was the site of a tower of the time of Henry III., at Whitchurch, and the Celtic tumulus of Twmpath. Upon this platform was erected the fortress which is here to be described. Castell Coch, so called from the red tint of its materials, is, in general plan, a triangle, each angle being capped by a drum tower. Its general divisions are the south, east, and northern towers, the gate tower, the curtains and hall, and the outworks. The platform occupied by the whole is about 200 yards long by 70 yards broad, and the principal works of the castle occupy its west end. The south face is, in part, precipitous, and from 20 feet to 30 feet high. The north face, towards the upper hill-side, is deepened into a formidable moat, and the east end was defended by a fosse, cut deeply across the rock, and beyond this by two towers, connected by a curtain wall. The North Tower xvi>^'t> from a square base to a cylindrical super-