Note 570 — Chapter VII · THE CASTLES OF THE NORMANS IN ENGLAND (continued 2)

In a paper published in the Trans. Soc. Ant. Scot, for 1900, on “Anglo-Saxon Burhs and Early Norman Castles,” the present writer was misled into the statement that this hut was the remains of the cellar of the Norman bretasche. A subsequent study of Mr Hardwick’s more lucid account of the excavations showed that this was an error. There were two pavements of boulders, one on the natural surface of the hill, on which the hut had been built, the other 5 feet above it, and 12 feet below the present surface. The hut appeared to have been circular, with wattled walls and a thatched roof. Several objects were found in its remains, and were pronounced to be Roman or Romano-British. The upper pavement would probably be the flooring of a Norman keep.