Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/397

Casfle Rising, Noi^folk. 867 light bridge over the ditch. It may be that it was only used for cattle. It has been thought that these earthworks are of somewhat dif- ferent dates, and that the central is the oldest. The circle, or irregular oval, with a bank and ditch, with or without a mound, is a not uncommon form of earthwork in England, and is probably the work of the English in the seventh and eighth centuries. That is to say, where the work is on a low site, and the form not governed, as in British works, by the outline of the ground. These English enclosures rarely stand alone. Usually there were one or more ap- pendages outside, and abutting upon the main ditch, as at Laughton and Kilpeck, probably additions, but not much later than the main work. They were usually also at no great distance from the parish church. From the tendency of the outworks at Castle Rising to the rectangular form, they have been supposed, by good authority, to be Roman, and the Romans had no doubt a settlement at Brancaster, about fifteen miles to the north. But Roman works seldom are composed of earthworks of this magnitude, the Roman custom, where great security was needed, having been to build a wall. Also, if the outworks only be Roman, the central work must be British, which is scarcely consistent with what is known of the defences of that people. Most probably the central is an English work, and the outworks either of the same date, or early additions by the same people. But, be the principal origin UPPER FLOOR