Note 808 — Chapter VII · THE CASTLES OF THE NORMANS IN ENGLAND (continued 3)

As the writer was the first to publish this statement, it will be well to give the evidence on which it rests. The keep of York is clearly Early English in style, and of an early phase of the style. It is, however, evident to every one who has carefully compared our dated keeps, that castle architecture always lags behind church architecture in style-development, and must be judged by different standards. We should therefore be prepared to find this and most other keeps to be of later date than their architecture would suggest. Moreover, the expenditure entered to York Castle in the reigns of Henry II., Richard I., and John, is quite insufficient to cover the cost of a stone keep. The Pipe Rolls of Henry III.’s reign decide the matter, as they show the sums which he expended annually on this castle. It is true they never mention the turris, but always the castrum; we must also admit that the turris and castrum are often distinguished in the writs, even as late as Edward III.’s reign. (Close Rolls, 1334.) On the other hand extensive acquaintance with the Pipe Rolls proves that though the mediæval scribe may have an occasional fit of accuracy, he is generally very loose in his use of words, and his distinctions must never be pressed. Take, for instance, the case of Orford, where the word used in the Pipe Rolls is always castellum, but it certainly refers to the keep, as there are no other buildings at Orford. Other instances might be given in which the word castellum clearly applies to the keep. It should be mentioned that in 1204 John gave an order for stone for the castle (Close Rolls, i., 4b), but the amounts on the bill for it in the Pipe Rolls show that it was not used for any extensive building operations.