that of Henry 2d. Judith, widow of Waltheof, refusing to marry Simon de St. Lize, who was one of the Norman followers of William, was disinherited of her estate; and St. Lize marrying Maud, her daughter, succeeded to the possession of the castle at Huntingdon. On his death, Maud married David King of Scotland, son of Malcolm, (who slew Macbeth,) and by Henry 1st was created Earl of Huntingdon. His successor, Stephen de Blois, gave him the castle, with considerable possessions in this county, "for an augmentation of his estate," and it is recorded that he enlarged the castle" with many works." In the reign of Henry the 2d it became a retreat for the disaffected and seditious, and its occupation a subject of constant dispute between the St. Lizes and the Scots; and on July the 21st, 1174, Henry having besieged the castle, it was surrendered to him by the Scots, and in 1175, by his order, dismantled and almost levelled with the ground, as well as most of the castles throughout the country, which had been in the hands of the rebel barons.-We will pursue the enquiry somewhat farther. Brayley, who has

y David Scotus, cui, ut antiquus habet historicus, "Stephanus Rex Burgum Huntingdon in augmentum dederat," multis operibus adauxit.-Camden's Brit. p. 395, ed. 1590.

Towns were then generally held of some castle or honour.

In Speed's time (the reign of James the First) the ruins of the castle and its foundations might be traced, but now not a vestige of either remains.

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.

42

CHAPTER III.

GODMANCHESTER A DANISH ENCAMPMENT,

A. D. 880.

R

EVERTING to the period of History when the Saxons, after subduing the Britons, and taking possession of the kingdom, were harassed and plundered by the Danes;a as our object is not to pre

sent an historical disserta

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.