been before alluded to, describes the site of the castle-hills and grounds adjacent in these words: "On the south it is bounded by the river, from which it rises very abruptly to a considerable height, and from its summit commands a fine view over a great expanse of country, particularly to the south; the prospect towards the north must also have been formerly very extensive, but is now impeded by the houses of the town. The outer ramparts inclose an area of several acres, of a square form, with the angles rounded off, and the whole was environed by a deep ditch; the banks on the south and south-east are still very bold; the principal entrance was on the east side. Not any vestiges of buildings now remain, but the foundations may in various places be traced from the unevenness of the surface: the artificial mount, on which most probably stood the keep of the castle, was surrounded by a ditch. Towards the west, the high ground continues for some distance; but on the north and east it more quickly declines." This reads very imposing and very decisive; but if Mr. Brayley had personally inspected the site, he would have discovered, that what he calls the outer ramparts, inclosing an area of several acres of a square form, are very little more or less than old and now abandoned gravel and clay pits, part of which have actually been worked within the memory of some of the present inhabitants of Huntingdon. The high ground at the south boundary continuing some distance towards the west, gradually declining towards the north, and more quickly so towards the east, is in a great measure the mere natural formation of the place, rendered somewhat more irregular by the artificial works thrown up during the contentions between the Mercians and the Danes, and subsequently those of the St. Lizes and the Scots; but the smaller square occupied by the castle-hills, carries, by its aspect, immediate conviction of its having been occupied by an AngloNorman castle. It is of the dimensions which would have been required for such occupation; situated on an eminence; in the south has a river running at its base; and in the west, north, and east, surrounded by a deep fosse. It is at that convenient distance from the public road, the Ermin-street, that would allow of the barbican or outwork for defending the great gate or principal entrance of the castle. The fortifications for the defence of this entrance were undoubtedly strong, from the high artificial mounts on which its protecting towers stood. The balleum, or area within, was well proportioned to the size of the establishment; and the elevation on which the chief tower or keep stood for the residence of the Governor, and security of the fortress, was considerable and of ample extent. In thus fixing the Roman station, Durolipons, at Godmanchester, and entering into this minute investigation of the subject, the strictest impar . tiality has been observed; not the distortion of an historical fact attempted, on the principle of the old couplet If you'd praise Lesbia's feature, Call her sister ugly creature for the antiquity of Huntingdon, the baronial intrigues, the sacred institutions, and the charitable foundations of olden time, together with, though last here recorded, not least amongst its memorabilia, its having been the birth-place of Oliver Cromwell, give it to the Historian, the Antiquarian, and the Politician, an interest that renders the aid of borrowed fame unnecessary to pourtray it illustrious in the pages of the Topographer. tion on those turbulent times, but merely to consider the circumstances under which Godmanchester for ever lost its old name, by becoming a Danish station of defence; we shall restrict our comments to those events in which the Danish leader, Guthrum," was a prominent and for a time the principal character. In order to form a just estimate of his rank and prowess, and the impor a See page 15. b He has been variously called Guthrum, Guthmun, Gytrum, Gurmun, Gorman, &c. tance of those events, we must take a brief survey of the state of England A. D. 875. The dominions of Alfred were then completely overrun by the Danes, with the exception of the kingdom of the West Saxons, and almost in subjection to them, when a fresh inundation of those pirates, brought hither by Guthrum, Oscitel, and Amund, entered the kingdom, and joined their countrymen under Hunga and Hubba, at their chief station at Repton in Derbyshire. Plans having been concerted for communication and co-operation, they divided their forces into numerous hordes ;a one portion took possession of Northumberland, commanded by a chieftain named Haldene ; another, headed by Guthrum, Oscitel, and Amund, established their camp at Cambridge; from whence they proceeded in the following year to Wereham, in Dorsetshire, the centre of Alfred's dominions. The vigilance and intrepidity of Alfred, and the success of his arms, soon reduced them to great extremities, and they gladly availed themselves of a truce he offered them to leave the kingdom, first swearing by the reliques of Christian saints to make no future irruptions on the country. The Saxons were deceived by this treaty into a fatal security, and the Danish forces treacherously fell upon Alfred's army, which they entirely discomfited, and, marching westward, c Hen. Hunt. lib. v, e Hen. Hunt. lib. v. d Saxon Chron. p. 83, and Asser, p. 8. |