- Plan of Alnwick Castle
THE castle of Alnwick stands upon a moderate eminence on the south bank of, and about 150 yards distant from, the river Alne, which was thus its immediate defence against the Scot. It is about five miles from, and about 200 feet above, the sea-level. Towards the east and south the castle is cut off from the town of Alnwick by a deep combe, once the bed of the Bow Burn. This has been trimmed and scarped by art, and its upper part towards the town has been almost obliterated by modern upfilling. 1. Donjon. 2. Inner Ward. 3. Outer Ward. 4. Terrace. 5. Stable Courts. 6. Kitchen. 7. Estate Offices. 8. Ravine. 9. Ditch. 10. Tower. 11. Inner Gate. 12. Middle Gate. 13. Barbican. 14. Hall. 15. Withdrawing-room. 16. Music-room. 17. Ante-room. 18. Library. Prudhoe Tower. 19. Chapel. 20. State Bedroom. 21. Entrance. 22. Spur Gallery. 23. West Garret. 24. Abbot’s Tower. 25. Falconer’s Tower. 26. Postern Tower. 27. Constable’s Tower. 28. Ravine Tower. 29. Hotspur’s Chair. 30. East Garret. 31. Warder’s Tower. 32. Auditor’s Tower. 33. Clock Tower. 34. Avener’s Tower. 35. Garden. - Plan of the Castle of Arques
ARQUES is one of the earliest examples of a Norman castle, for which reason, though not an English fortress, it has been thought convenient to include an account of it in these pages. This grand castle crowns and occupies the head of a steep and bold cape or promontory, in this case a spur from the great chalk table-land of the “Pays de Caux.” On the west it is flanked by a short but deep combe or dry valley, and on the east by the deeper and far wider valley of the Bethune and Varenne—streams derived from different sources, but which here meander across a broad and level bottom, above half a mile wide, until, a little below the castle, uniting, they receive the tributary Aulne, and, thus combined, under the name of “la Rivière d’Arques,” fall into the sea at the port of Dieppe. A. Keep. B. Inner Ward. C. Outer Ward. D. Walls of Le Bel. E. Old Ditch. F. Glacis. G. New Ditch. H. Norman Gate. I. South Gate. K. Barbican. L. North Gate. a. Galleries. - Plan of Barnard Castle
BARNARD, or Bernard’s, Castle, so called from its founder, Bernard de Baliol, stands in a commanding position on the left bank of the Tees, here the boundary between Durham and Yorkshire. It is a large castle, and was long a very important one, both from its position on the frontier of the bishopric, and from the power of the great barons who built and maintained it. A. Inner Ward. B. Middle Ward. C. Town Ward. D. Outer Ward. E. North Gate. F. Brackenbury’s Tower. G. Round Tower. - The Keep of Barnard Castle
The outer ditch of the place, also the town ditch, commenced in a deep ravine close north of the keep, and was carried along the north front, skirting what are called “the Flats”; thence along the east front, between the wall and the town, and thence round the south end, and so beneath a part of the west front, until it is lost in the steep ground near the bridge, having been altogether nearly 700 yards in length. - Beaumaris Castle, Bird's Eye View
The great hall, 70 feet by 23 feet 6 inches, occupies most of the first floor of the northern gatehouse, and is lighted from the court by five windows, of two lights each, with a transom, as at Stokesley and Ludlow, contemporary halls. The fireplace was on the opposite side. The roof was of timber, but with one stone rib, as at Charing. The southern gatehouse probably also contained a large chamber, now destroyed. The state-rooms and lodgings were in the gatehouses. The portals were of unusual length, and each was guarded by three grates. - Beaumaris Castle, Entrance
Its inner ward is a quadrangle about 50 yards square, contained within four curtain-walls about 16 feet thick and 40 to 50 feet high. At the angles are four drum-towers, three-quarters engaged, of the height of the curtains. On the east and west sides are intermediate towers, half-round, with prolonged sides, of which that to the east, as at Kidwelly, contains the chapel. In the centre of the north and south sides are the gatehouses, of large size and something higher than the other towers. In each a quadrangular part projects into the court, capped at the two angles by round turrets containing staircases. Outside, half-round towers with prolonged sides flank the entrance. - Beaumaris Castle, Ground Plan
BEAUMARIS Castle is built upon a marshy flat, close to the sea-shore, and but little above the level of the sea, from which its ditch was supplied. It is an example of a purely concentric fortress, in which the engineer was left free to design his works without being governed, as in most other cases, by the irregularities of the ground. - Berkeley Castle, Keep
Berkeley Castle, Keep Entering the outer gate, the visitor finds himself upon a triangular platform, of which the outer gate-house is the apex, and the inner gate-house and part of the keep the base; on the left a modern wall, which replaces the curtain, crests the scarp of the ditch, and forms the north side of the platform 66 yards long. On the right a low parapet, 54 yards long, forms the south side, and caps a revetment wall of about 10 feet in height, at the foot of which the ancient scarp has been laid out in good taste in a terrace garden. This triangular platform is scarcely an outer ward: it is rather a barbican covering the main entrance and the keep. Its area is 7,750 square yards. There is no trace of a second ditch in advance of this side of the keep and the inner gate, but it is very probable that there was one, though, if so, it must have been filled up when the courts were added to the keep, as otherwise it would have completely occupied them. - Berkeley Castle, Plan
Upon the line of the Severn, in the rear of all these, there were but eight of any importance, Bristol, Berkeley, Gloucester, Hanley, Worcester, Hartlebury, Bridgenorth and Shrewsbury, and of these Berkeley was in many respects the most remarkable, and has endured the longest. A Keep. B Inner Ward. C Outer Ward. D Outer Gate. E Inner Gate. F Fore Building. G Ed. II. Dungeon. H Ed. II. Tower. I Domestic Apartments. J Chapel. K Room above Cellar. L Hall. M Buttery. N Kitchen. O Offices. P Well. Q Oratory and Well. - Caernarvon Castle, Battlements
The illustration shows the allure or rampart-walk of the Eagle Tower. The rear wall, if it ever existed, has been removed. The cut shows the merlon, with its contained loop, the plain flat-sided embrasure, and the figures placed upon the ridge of the coping, one of which gives name to the tower. The small, shoulder-headed doorway opening from the tower upon the rampart is also seen. - Caernarvon Castle, Bird’s-eye View
Caernarvon was begun in 1283, immediately upon the execution of David, the last Welsh prince. The first work was that of quarrying the cross ditch, and collecting materials and workmen, the latter being drafted from the English counties. Caernarvon, Conway, Criccaeth, and Harlech, were in progress together, and nothing short of the hope of consolidating his kingdom could have induced so economical a sovereign as Edward to incur expenses which, in one year, for Caernarvon alone, amounted to above £3,000. The king was here for the first time in 1284, in which year, April 25th, Edward of Caernarvon was born, probably in the town. A bird’s-eye view of the castle from the north-west. In the front and centre is the King’s Gatehouse, and next, on the spectator’s right, is the Well Tower, and beyond it, the Eagle Tower. On the extreme left is the interior of the Queen’s Gatehouse, placed between the Granary Tower on the left and the Black Tower. Opposite to the King’s Gate is the Exchequer Tower, and between it and the Eagle is the Prince’s Tower. In the lower or right-hand court are seen the foundations of the hall; next on the left of the King’s Gate is the Dungeon Tower. - Caerphilly Castle
For the purpose of the description of the castle itself, the whole may be considered as composed of five parts, each of which will be further subdivided. These parts are:— I.—The Grand Front. II.—The Horn-work. III.—The Redoubt. IV.—The Middle Ward. V.—The Inner Ward. - Caerphilly Castle, Ground plan
Caerphilly Castle, Ground plan A Inner Ward. B Middle Ward. C Kitchen Tower and Water Gate. D Outer Ward. E Great Gatehouse and Pier. F North Postern. G South Postern. H Sluice. I Outer Water Gate. - Cardiff Castle, Glamorgan
THE castle of Cardiff, though not unknown to border fame, has been the theatre of no great historical event, nor does it present any very striking peculiarities of position, scenery, or structure. Its claim to more than local interest rests upon the character and fortunes of the great barons whose inheritance and occasional residence it was from the 11th to the 15th century, from the reign of Rufus to that of Henry VI. Probably a Roman castrum, and certainly a hold of the local British princes, it was won, in 1090, by the sword of Robert Fitzhamon, lord of the Honour of Gloucester, and by him constituted the “caput” of his newly acquired seignory of Morgan and Glamorgan. - Carlisle Castle
The city of Carlisle appears first early in the ninth century, in the history of Nennius, as Cair-Luadiit, or Luilid, or the Castra Luguballia, one of the “octo et viginti civitates ... cum innumeris castellis ex lapidibus et lateribus fabricatis,” enumerated by that respectable authority. The fame of Carlisle, however, is due neither to this early mention, nor to the subsequent gift of the place by King Ecgfrid to St. Cuthbert, but rather to its name as a centre of the early cycle of Arthurian romance, well supported by its subsequent celebration in Border tales and ballads. Indeed, whether in fable or in fact, Carlisle enjoys no mean reputation. It played a part in the British, Roman, Saxon, and Danish occupations of the island, and, after having been held as a frontier fortress, by the Scots against the English, became, in its turn, the great stronghold of northern England against the Scots, and the scourge of the wild tribes of the debatable land. - Château-Gaillard, Plan
Château-Gaillard, the “Saucy Castle” of Cœur-de-Lion, the work of one year of his brief reign, and the enduring monument of his skill as a military engineer, is in its position and details one of the most remarkable, and in its history one of the most interesting of the castles of Normandy. Although a ruin, enough remains to enable the antiquary to recover all its leading particulars. These particulars, both in plan and elevation, are so peculiar that experience derived from other buildings throws but an uncertain light upon their age; but of this guide, usually so important, they are independent, from the somewhat uncommon fact that the fortress is wholly of one date, and that date is on record. Moreover, within a few years of its construction, whilst its defences were new and perfect, with a numerous garrison and a castellan, one of the best soldiers of the Anglo-Norman baronage, it was besieged by the whole disposable force of the most powerful monarch of his day; and the particulars of the siege have been recorded by a contemporary historian with a minuteness which leaves little for the imagination to supply, and which, by the help of the place and works, but little changed, enables us to obtain a very clear comprehension of the manner in which great fortresses were attacked and defended at the commencement of the thirteenth century. - Blundell’s Impellor
A more general interest in the subject was revived in England by the work of James Blundell, lecturer on physiology and midwifery at St. Thomas’s and Guy’s Hospitals. He published in 1818 his earliest paper on experimental transfusion with a special form of syringe invented by himself. His first apparatus consisted of a funnel-shaped receptacle for the blood, connected by a two-way tap with a syringe from which the blood was injected through a tube and cannula into the recipient. His experiments were[11] performed upon dogs, and he began by drawing blood from the femoral artery and re-injecting it into the same animal through the femoral vein. He then conducted a long series of investigations into the properties of blood, the effects of its withdrawal, and the resuscitation of an exsanguinated animal. Soon he had opportunities of transfusing patients with human blood, and the results are recorded in his paper of 1824. His apparatus had by then been elaborated, and an engraving of his Impellor, as he termed it, is reproduced here. It consisted as before of a funnel-shaped receptacle for the blood, but the syringe was now incorporated in one side of the funnel, and contained a complicated system of spring valves, which caused the blood to travel along the delivery tube when the piston was pushed down. The Impellor was fixed to the back of a chair in order to give it stability. - Drawing Blood for Transfusion
When the donor’s arm has been congested by gripping it above the elbow, or better by the application of a tourniquet drawn to the requisite degree of tightness, a suitable vein, usually the median basilic, is chosen. The area of puncture is washed with ether and a very small quantity, 2 to 3 minims, of 2 per cent. novocain is introduced over the vein with a hypodermic syringe. If a larger quantity is used, the vein may become obscured, but this small amount may be dispersed by a few moments’ pressure with the finger, and is usually enough to anæsthetize the very small area of skin that is to be operated upon. A tiny cut in the skin is then made with the point of a scalpel, and the needle is pushed through into the vein. - Kimpton-Brown Tube
Whole Blood Transfusion with Kimpton’s Tube. The principle of this method depends upon the use of paraffin wax as a coating for the vessel into which the blood is drawn, so that clotting is prevented or greatly delayed. The form of the vessel has been modified by different workers, but the essentials are the same in each. One form of the apparatus, known as the Kimpton-Brown tube, is illustrated in the accompanying diagram. It consists of a graduated glass cylinder, of about 700 cc. capacity, the lower end of which is drawn out into a cannula point at an acute angle with the body of the cylinder; the point is of a size convenient for introducing into a vein and its bore large enough to allow of a free flow of blood through it. Near the upper end is a side tube to which a rubber tube can be attached, and an opening at the top is closed by a rubber bung. An ordinary rubber double-bulb bellows is the only other apparatus that is needed.