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Print, oval sepia tinted aquatint, Scaleby Castle,
Cumberland, by William Gilpin, 1772-74, published by T
Cadell and W Davies, Strand, London, 1786.
Included in vol.2 opposite p.121 in Observations, Relative
Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty, made in the year 1772.
The list of plates in the preface of the book has:-
'XX. A view of Scaleby-castle, in which the old tower part
of the walls, and the bastion, are represented. Page 121.'
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The text pp.121-125 has:-
'... About three miles further we visited the ruins of
Scaleby-castle. This was another of those fortified houses,
which are so frequent in this country.
'It stands, as castles rarely do, on a flat; and yet, tho
it's site be ill adapted to any modes of defence, it has
been a place of more than ordinary strength. Rocks, knolls,
and bold projecting promontories, on which castles usually
stand, suggest various advantages of situation; and
generally determine the kind of structure. On a flat, the
engineer was at liberty to choose his own. Every part was
alike open to assault.
'He first drew two circular motes round the spot he designed
to fortify: the circumference of the outward circle was
somewhat more than half a mile. The earth, thrown out of
these two motes, which were broad and deep, seems to have
been heaped up at the centre, where there is a considerable
rise. On this was built the castle, which was entered by two
draw-bridges; and defended by a high tower, and a very lofty
wall.
'At present, one of the motes only remains. The other is
filled up; but may still be traced. The castle is more
perfect, than such buildings usually are. The walls are very
intire; and a great part of the tower, which is square, is
still left. It preserved it's perfect form, till the civil
wars of the last century; when the castle, in too much
confidence of it's strength, shut it's gates against
Cromwell, then marching into Scotland; who made it a
monument of his vengeance.
'What share of picturesque genius Cromwell might have, I
know not. Certain however it is, that no man, since Henry
the eighth, has contributed more to adorn this country with
picturesque ruins. The difference between the two masters
lay chiefly with the style of ruins, in which they composed.
Henry adorned his landscapes with the ruins of abbeys;
Cromwell, with those of castles.
'I have seen many pieces by this master, executed in a very
grand style; but seldom a finer monument of his masterly
hand than this. He has rent the tower, and demolished two of
it's sides; the edges of the other two he has shattered into
broken lines. The chasm discovers the whole plan of the
internal structure - the vestiges of several stories - the
insertion of the arches, which supported them - the windows
for speculation; and the breastwork for assault.
'The walls of this castle are uncommonly magnificent. They
are not only of great height, but of great thickness; and
defended by a large bastion; which appears to be of more
modern workmanship. The greatest part of them is chambered
within, and wrought into secret recesses. A massy portcullis
gate leads to the ruins of what was once the habitable part
of the castle, in which a large vaulted hall is the most
remarkable apartment; and under it, are dark, and capacious
dungeons.
'The area within the mote, which consists of several acres,
was originally intended to support the cattle, which should
be driven thither in times of alarm. When the house was
inhabited (whose chearful and better days are still
remembered, (sic) this area was the garden; and all around,
on the outside of the mote stood noble trees, irregularly
planted, the growth of a century. Beneath the trees ran a
walk round the castle; to which the situation naturally gave
that pleasing curve, which in modern days hath been so much
the object of art. This walk might admit of great
embellishment. On one hand, it commands the ruins of the
castle in every point of view; on the other, a country,
which tho flat, is not unpleasing; consisting of extensive
meadows, (which a little planting might turn into beautiful
lawns,) bounded by lofty mountains.
'This venerable pile has now undergone a second ruin. The
old oaks and elms, the ancient natives of the scene, are
felled. Weeds, and spiry grass have taken possession of the
courts, and obliterated the very plan of a garden: while the
house itself, (whose hospitable roof deserved a better
fate,) is now a scene of desolation. Two wretched families,
the only inhabitants of the place, occupied the two ends of
the vaulted hall, when we saw it, the fragment of a tattered
curtain, reaching half way to the top, being the simple
boundary of their respective limits. All the rest was waste:
no other part of the house was habitable. The chambers
unwindowed, and almost unroofed, fluttered with rags of
ancient tapestry, were the haunts of daws, and pigeons;
which burst out in clouds of dust, when the doors were
opened: while the floors, yielding to the tread, made
curiosity dangerous. A few pictures, heir-looms of the wall,
which have long deserved oblivion, by I know not what fate,
were the only appendages of this dissolving pile, which had
triumphed over the injuries of time.
'Shakespear's castle of Macbeth could not have been more the
haunt of swallows and martins, than this. we saw them every
where about the ruins; either twittering on broken coins;
threading some fractured arch; or pursuing each other, in
screaming circles, round the walls of the castle. [star]'
[footnote/star]:-
'In this old castle the author of this tour was born, and
spent his early youth; which must be his apology for
dwelling so long upon it.- Since this description was
written, it has, in some degree, been repaired.'
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