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The green mount on which the castle stands appears to be an
artefactum of the Romans. In digging into it a few years ago, a
Roman silver denarius was found at a great depth. The eminence
has been surrounded with a great moat.
The present structure is generally supposed to have been built by
Edward III. but some parts seem to be of a higher date. There are
three styles of architecture very evident in the present castle
[1]. 1. Round Towers, distant from each other about 26 paces, and
joined by a wall and open gallery. On the western side there
remain two entire, and from their distance, and the visible
foundation of others, it appears they have been in number seven,
and that the form of the castle was then a polygon. One of the
towers is called Adrian's tower, probably from something formerly
standing there dedicated to that emperor. They are two stages
high; the lights are narrow slits: the hanging gallery is
supported by a single row of corbels, and the lower stages
communicate by a close gallery in the wall. Each stage was
vaulted with a plain pyramidal vault of great height. Those in
the more southern towers are entire, and called John of Gaunt's
ovens; but the calling them so is as ridiculous as groundless.
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