PEVENSEY CASTLE KEEP.

Hastings Standard, Volume XII, Issue 5846, 9 May 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

PEVENSEY CASTLE KEEP.

INTERESTING DISCOVERY. Important discoveries have just beer, made at Pevensey Castle, where, by permission of the Duke of Devonshire, the owner, excavations have been in progress for some time past. The around plan of the destroyed early Norman keep his now been recovered. The structure presents some remarkable peculiarities of design, and differs considerably from every other known example - .--- lit is approximately a rectangle, having "rfvys- huge projections, three of which are apslhkv!. in form. Their design appears to Easy? been prompted by that of an existing RohT.an tower, which has been incorporated m- v to the structure at its south-east angi". The interior dimensions of the keep were 34ft bv 57ft, the v.alls were 13ft thick and 90ft high. Onlv about 40ft of the walls aiv left. From the excellence of the stonework and the wide mortar joints, the keep is evidently of very earlv Norman date., and probably anterior to 1070.. The only previous explorations within the castle were carried out in 1852. at which time the foundations of the chapel with in the court-yard were uncovered and the well was cleared out. Among the various objects remove J from the latter was a number of larg< stone catapult-balls, some of which may now be seen at the museum of the Sussex Archaeological Society at Lewes, while others are exhibited in the garden of the Castle Cottage. Pevensey. o;ie verv fine example, 1 tin in diameter, and fragments of another lmv--also been unearthed in the course of the recent investigations, while a third remains em bedded" in the wall. A small portion of the face of the northern apse of the kejp was uncovered at the same iiiee, but was not completely traced. The closing years of the reign of Edward 111. saw the castle in a dilapidate condition. The ruins were regarded as a convenient quarry until they came into the possession of the present owner, to whom are due various repairs and the wise preservation of the existing remains for public enjoyment.