Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/406

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376 MedicBval Military Architecture. four-centred, with piers 3 feet broad, and within each arch or recess was a loop. There remain three arches and a half. Besides this there is a fragment of curtain south-west of the keep, and traces of foundations along the bank. In the central ward, a few yards north of the keep, is a well, and further north are the remains of the great chapel. This was com- posed of a nave, choir or presbytery, and apse. The nave is about 12 feet broad and 25 feet long. The arch into the presbytery was 5 feet broad, and across it is the base of a stone screen with a door of 3 feet. There was a south door and a north window. The font stood in the centre, near the west end. The presbytery was 8 feet long by 9 feet broad, with a loop to the south, and an arch of 6 feet opening into the apse. The apse was rounded, and 8 feet broad by 9 feet long, and had loops splayed internally to the north and east, and probably to the south. It is said that the very early Norman font, now in the parish church, came from hence. The masonry of what remains of this building is of a rude character, and it is probably older than the keep. This is supposed to be the chapel of St. Nicholas mentioned in the records. At present its remains are niched into the bank, and it has the appearance of being the older of the two, though this can scarcely be the case. The sand of the bank is liable to be shifted by the wind, and as late as the commencement of the present century the central ward was much encumbered with it, and the keep more or less buried, so that this is probably the cause of the half-buried condition of the ruins of the chapel. The keep, chapel, and gatehouse are the only remains of Norman masonry at present seen above ground. The inner ward must have contained domestic buildings on a large scale, fit for the reception of royalty, but the foundations which remain on the south of the keep seem very late, probably of the Tudor period. They are said to be those of the constable's lodgings. There is no trace of masonry of any kind in the two outer wards. The parish church, standing in the village of Castle Rising, is a fine example of the late Norman style. Its west front, especially, is very rich, and it has a good central tower. The chancel is rather later. The font is very massive. Its square bowl is covered with carvings of an early character, and it stands upon a plain cylinder, properly copied from the original support. The bowl is said to have come from the castle. Rising, or rather Snettisham, in which manor it is contained, was a part of the estate of Edwyn, a Dane, and a follower of Canute. So says Dugdale. In Domesday it is entered as a " bervite " of the manor of Snettisham. ^Huic manerio jacet una bervita Risinga.^ It had belonged to Archbishop Stigand, and, on his forfeiture, William gave it to Bishop Odo, then Earl of Kent. After Odo's fall, Rufus granted it to William d'Albini, the royal " pincerna," or butler, son of Roger, and whose younger brother Nigel was ancestor of the great house of Mowbray. The son of William was " William