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The Beauties and Antiquities of the County of Sussex, 149 Lithogr. Views Accompanied by Historical and Explanatory Notices
The Beauties and Antiquities of the County of Sussex 149 Lithogr Views Accompanied by Historical and Explanatory Notices Author:James Rouse General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1825 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: Here is a beautiful view over the marshes. On the right is Camber Point. This was one of the town gates built between the years 1287 and 129-1. under the direction of John Kirkeby, Bishop of Ely. PLATE XXIII. Winchelsea, or Camber Castle. About one mile north-east of the town of Winchelsea, on a peninsula, v ithin half-a-mile of the sea, stands Winchelsea, or Camber Castle, so called from its proximity to Camber, Point. It was built by Henry the Eighth, for the protection of the coast, and is supposed to stand on the site of a more ancient edifice; its principal walls are nearly entire. The plan is similar to that of several other castles erected during that reign ; that is, one large round tower, which served for the keep, surrounded by several smaller towers of the same form, connected by short curtains. These buildings clearly prove the backward state of military architecture in this kingdom at that time, round towers being considered, of all others, the least capable of mutual defence. A low battery, or place withloop-holes, for discharging muskets, surrounded the keep, which is now below the surface of the ground, -- a proof that the earth must have been prodigiously raised since that period. This building is not unlike the Mausoleum of Metella, called Capo di Bove; and its appearance impresses the spectator with an idea of something Roman. It is the only tower of this description now remaining in England. In the Magna Britannia this castle is described as standing upon a level relinquished by the sea; while others suppose it, as before stated, to stand on the ruins of a more ancient fabric...« less