the diocese (Hereford), so the bell really might have lain
there for generations.
It has been exhibited at the Society of Antiquaries,
Burlington House, and at the Irish Royal Academy,
Belfast, and the Scottish Society in Edinburgh ; but I
believe has never been described until now. The bell is
formed of a single plate of iron about 22 ins. in length
by 10 ins. in breadth at its extremities, and ^^ in. in
thickness.
This has been bent or folded on itself in the middle, a
semicircular or rounded portion being on each opposite
side of the plate, where it is folded so as to allow its
edges to be turned inwards and overlap each other, and
ANXIF.NT CELTIC BELL.
NOTES ON AN ANCIENT CELTIC BELL. 35
thus form on pLaii a square-sided figure, becoming
gradually wider towards its bottom or mouth. The
overlapping sides of the bell liave been joined together
on each side by three large flatheaded nails and thi^ee
small nails, well riveted inside. The handle is composed
of two bars of iron f in. thick, strongly fixed to the top
of the bell, and in the line of its greater plan-diameter ;
their extremities projecting inside, where they have been
well riveted. The one side has a flat ring and pin near
the outside surface. There is still a piece of the wood of
the handle remaining, which, though very old, is most
probably not so ancient as the bell itself
The loop riveted through the top of the bell carries
the iron clapper, which is 9^ ins. long and of the usual
form.
The bell had most likely been dipped into melted
bronze, so as to cover its whole surface, as portions of a
bronze coating still remain both inside and out. The
object of this was, no doubt, to protect the iron from the
effects of the weather, as well as to improve the tone.
The bell was, no doubt, carried and rung by the hand.
The bell measures 10|- ins. in height, not including the
handle. It is 7 ins. in length along the top — 1 in. of
which is taken up by the ears or bent ends — by 2^ ins.
in breadth across. It slightly curves inward, and then
widens to 6 ins. in the greater diameter of its mouth by
4^ ins. in breadth. The handle proper (what remains of
it) is 3^ ins. in height from the top of the bell, and 4^ ins.
wide (or in length) between the upright carrying bars.
Tlie ears or bent ends in this specimen are souiewhat
larger than usual.
The bell now weighs 5 lb. 6 oz.
The relic, taken as a whole, is in a wonderfully perfect
state of preservation, although it has now lost the
greater part of its original bronze coating. It is,
however, bent and turned up a little at the edge of the
plate at one of its sides ; and on the other side two holes
have been made, either by accident or with age. When
struck by the clapper, it gives out a sound not very
musical on account of these holes and cracks.
From its character and shape it evidently belongs to
36 NOTES ON AN ANCIENT CELTIC BELL.
the earliest — the quadrangular — type, in use by the
Celtic Church previous, at all events, to the Norman
invasion. Most probably the relic is of the sixth century,
as there are present all the characteristics of bells of that
period. Dr. Anderson gives an account of all the square-
formed Celtic bells known in Scotland in his excellent
work, Scotland in Early Christian Times, in which he
says " there are between fifty and sixty of these bells
extant in Ireland (the home of Celtic bells) ; six or
seven of the bells are known in Wales, but only two in
England." He was then speaking in October, 1879. So
this bell must, T think, make at least the third found in
England. 'J'here is one in the British Museum found in
this country, and seven or eight from Ireland. There
are also specimens to be found in the National Museum
in Edinburgh ; so that it will be seen, though com-
paratively common in Ireland, it is extremely rare to
find them in England.
These bells were unquestionably used for sacred
purposes by the Celtic missionaries to England from
Ireland ages ago, and so are closely identified with
Christianity in this country. It is also recorded that
pilgrims in the remote ages of the Celtic churches carried
these bells with them, and especially when visiting
heathen lands left them behind as memorials of their
Christianity. The Welsh and Irish held their bells in
the highest veneration.
Finally, I may observe that these Irish and Scotch
bells were sounded in the streets before the interment of
a corpse, and that the same custom prevailed in England
previous to the glorious Reformation.
I also exhibit an interesting example of a Singhalese
cattle bell, procured by Mr. Horniman last year in the
interior of Ceylon. This is of iron, riveted somewhat
like our old Celtic bell.
CAISTER CASTLE AND SIR JOHN FASTOLFE,
K.G.
BY C. R. B. BAUKETT, ESQ., M.A.
{Read 5 /mwc 1895.)
AISTER Castle, and its distinguished
builder, Sir John Fastolfe, K.G., is the
subject of the present paper. This
castle, now alas ! a sad wreck, stands
on flat, low-lying ground about a mile
and a quarter from the sea coast and
four miles north of the busy and
picturesque town of Yarmouth.
For reasons both historical and antiquarian, this grand
old fragment merits attention. I may say that it is one
of the oldest buildings of English brickwork to be found
in the kingdom — certainly the oldest in the eastern
counties.
And now to its history. In the year 1316 the lands
at Caister were in the possession of a Sir Oliver Ingham.
From him they passed into the hands of the Fastolfe
family. That there was, however, any dwelling-place at
Caister when the transfer took effect is unknown. But
between that date and the reign of Henry V, a house
had certainly come into existence ; for we read that the
celebrated Sir John Fastolfe, during the brief rule of that
monarch, obtained a licence to fortify a dwelling at
Caister, his birthplace. Henry V died in 1422. It
was not until the reign of his successor that the present
castle was couunenced, and the Imilding operations con-
38
CAISTER CASTLE
^
tinued till 1453. From evidence which relates to the
building of the castle, we must conclude that Sir John
Fastolfe either changed his intention later of fortifying
his birthplace, or, having fortified his home, removed the
building in order to erect a grand place of arms.
In 1443 he had obtained a licence from the Crown to
keep six ships employed, and these vessels he used to
convey building mate-
PL.N or CAfSTER. m2. ^.j^j^ \^ (.^.^4, f^^^^
^ Yarmouth. In those
days there was water-
communication with
the river and sea by
means of a creek. By
this channel the Castle
moats were supplied,
and in later times the
worthy knight's barge
used the cutting to
pass by water from his
Castle to the neigh-
bouring town.
There is a tradition
(entirely unsubstanti-
ated) that the funds
to erect Caister were
obtained from the ran-
som paid by John II,
Due d'Alengon, who
was taken prisoner at
Verneuil in 1424, his
V _^ captor being Sir John
0-1 ^^^-^^^-^^^.^^^^-^ Fastolfe.
In its entirety Caister Castle occupied an area of
about five acres of ground. From a map dated 1842, I
find that there were then existing the inner moat
complete and a portion of the outer or second moat. Of
the accuracy in one particular of this plan I shall have
something to say presently, and I will here merely
remark that the map of 1893 shows a part (one side) of
the inner mote as filled in, while the outer moat has
AND SIR JOHN FASTOLFE.
39
been dug out and on the south-eastern side considerably
altered in shajoe. The inner moat contained the chief
gateway, the present lofty tower, the hall, and the
living rooms of the castle. Within the limits of the
outer moat stood the college, the free chapel, and, as
I believe, the stables. Beyond the moat on the western
face lay the " Barge House", under which was a wide
lofty arch communicating with the creek, river, and sea.
Part of this building remains, and my illustration, taken
from an old print, shows its appearance prior to the erec-
tion of the modern dwelling which is now tacked on to it.
A ground plan published by Grose in 1776, Anti-
quities of England and Wales, shows us that the build-
ings were then fairly complete, but whether his identi-
fication of the rooms is accurate it is not, of course,
possible to be assured in these days, for all have vanished.
He places two drawbridges at the same spots where the
present moat can now be crossed; a third one apparentl}^
connected the two courtyards. The hall occupied the
greater part of the south-eastern side of the chief yard,
the cellars the north-western side (observe arches in
40
CAISTER CASTLE
illustration). The north-eastern buildings are unnamed,
while the basement of the great tower is called the
" dining-room". All mention of the chapel is lacking.
Now I must ask you to compare the orientation of
the two maps and to observe the very considerable
discrepancy. From Dawson Turner's book T derived the
1842 map, and he places the chapel at the point marked
D — i.e., adjoining the Great Tower. His reason
apparently was that at that spot there happened to be an
ornamental window within a recess, but a window
beneath domestic rooms. This, as it was the only
decorated work in the castle, Mr. Turner determined
must be the chapel, regardless of the difficulties both of
construction and orientation. He was welcome to his
opinion, but I do complain of the way in which the
compass was twisted on his map to support his view.
The shadows cast at noon one day in May, 1893, caused
doubts to arise in my mind, and I began forthwith to
investigate.
Now, according to the Cambridge Orientation Chart,
a chapel of St. Margaret would be orientated on one of
the three lines which on my diagram are marked
"possible," viz., at 34", 21°, and 13° approximately north
of east, according as the day was July 20th, August 15th,
or September 2nd. Anrl neither of these answers the
AND SIR JOHN FASTOLFE.
41
conditions of the 1842 map, for therein the moat is
absolutely north-south-east and west in its faces. As
will be observ'od, the 1893 maj3 differs very considerably.
It cannot be imagined that in a building such as Caister
Castle was, the chapel would be huddled into one
corner, and built obliquely to the side of the moat
— undefended, and next to the cellars. Such, however,
was the position assigned to it by Mr. Turner. He drew
his map to suit his view, and forgot or possibly cared
little for the fact that there were three St. Margarets,
if not four, and that their "lines of orientation" were
not coincident. To a St. Margaret the free chapel of
Caister is known to have been dedicated, and I submit
Possible'
d^^si6k
e^w.
X>tot/i'L>ta ifooie
"â– n(.'iiiriiyiii|i.'i/!iiiiKM^!iiii/,iii'|
that it could never have been, would never have been,
erected on Mr. Turner's proposed site — separated, too,
from its college by an intervening moat and drawbridge
and beneath domestic buildings.
The tower of Caister, its greatest remaining beauty, rises
to a height of 90 ft. ; the turret (I could not ascend it)
seems to rise some 8 ft. or 9 ft. higher. Originally the
tower was divided into five stories, and the holes for the
floor-joists, the openings of the windows, and ruined tire-
places show this. The turret newel had 122 stone steps.
These were removed by a parson, one David Collyer,
shortly after 1776. Collyer was building a house at
Wroxham, and, thinking that a parapet would improve
42 CAISTER CASTLE
it, robbed beautiful Caister of its newel. The stones are
at Wroxham, I hear, to this day. But he was not the
first robber. In 1751 "an industrious antiquary," one
Mr. William Arderon, unblushingly confesses to having
" wrenched out of the wall of one of the windows in the
tower an iron bar which had stood for some hundreds of
years perpendicular"; and adds disappointedly, " but it
was not in the least magnetical." No antiquary he,
forsooth, but a scientific (save the mark !) Goth.
Nowadays, the tower is a complete shell. The carving
of the coat-armour of Sir John Fastolfe with the Garter
surrounding it has vanished. It once adorned the wall
in one of the upper chambers.
A quaint carving of angels (scaled curiously and
double'-winged), supporting shields and bearing mot-
toes, w^hich stood above a window, has been removed to
Blickling Hall, where it has been converted into a
mantel. The coat-armour was Fastolfe : Quarterly or
and azure, on a bend gules, three cross-crosslets argent.
This was the blazon of one shield, and it was surmounted
by a helmet of good type. The other shield bore
Fastolfe impaling Tiptoft. The motto was :—
"me ffaut ffare."
Sir John Fastolfe married Millicent Tiptoft, or Tibetot,
the daughter of Eobert, third Lord Tibetot. She was
the widow of Sir Stephen Scrope.
Those who care or have cared for east county families
know that none of distinction ever failed to intermarry
wdth the Tibtofts. Their coat-armour is ever present.
It is possible to ascend a short distance by clambering
up the broken stair; and thence through a ruined
window I obtained a sketch of the south-west wall of
the castle, showing one of the flanking towers of the
great gateway in profile. I could not get a sketch of
this gateway from the front. Here the drawbridge has
gone, but it has been replaced by a causeway which
crosses the moat.
For a description of the present appearance of the
ruins I must rely on my sketches, merely adding a few
notes. The walls are very massive, and their machicola-
AND SIR JOHN FASTOLFE.
43
tions are fairly perfect. These last are, of course, of
stone.
It is in the dark arch beneath the side tower that Mr.
Dawson Turner placed his chapel. Vaulting existed in
his day in this recess,
but this has now^
vanished. The lofty
crow-stepped gable on
the north-western side
of the tower is parti-
cularly beautiful. In
the lower part of the
wall are the arches,
presumably the cellar-
arches mentioned by
Grose.
Passing now to the
outer moat, there is on
the north-eastern face
a loopholed brick wall
with two circular bas-
tions at the corners,
and on one side a short
return of wall. This
wall was furnished
with arrow-slits, now
built up.
I will now briefly
mention the life of the
'^[^n'r\;:X rvKm^ v\^^o^^
builder. Sir John Fastolfe was born circa 1378. His family
belonged to Norfolk ; some, indeed, had been Bailiffs of
Yarmouth as far back as the reign of Edward I. Of the
pedigree of Sir John Fastolfe, we know that the name of
his father was John, and of his grandfather Alexander.
John Fastolfe, the father, inherited lands at Caister
and elsewhere, but how is not known. At a house
the Caister estate Sir John Fastolfe was born.
on
His mother was the daughter of Nicholas Park. She
married, first. Sir Richard Mortimer of Attleborouoh,
and secondly, John Fastolfe ; thirdly, a man nanVed
Far well (a Somersetshire name b}^ the way, belongino- in
44 CAISTER CASTLE
later times to a village close to Taunton), a celebrated
lawyer. She died in 1406, May 2nd. In his youth
young Fastolfe became a page — not, however, in the
household of John, Duke of* Bedford, as has been
stated. (Fuller.) That he was, indeed, page to
Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, prior to 1398 is
possible ; and that he was in the service of Thomas,
Duke of Lancaster, second son of Henry lY, and
afterwards Duke of Clarence, is assured. The Duke
was Lord-Deputy of L-eland in 1401, and thither
Fastolfe is known to have accompanied him. There,
indeed, he married his wife Milicent in 1408 — a bride,
a widow, and richly dowered — and of her possessions
Fastolfe made free use, to the detriment, indeed, of the
interests of his stepson Stephen. Foreign wars now
gave Fastolfe an opening, and he speedily distinguished
himself: so much so, that in 1413 Henry V placed him
in charge of the castle of Veires in Gascony. Two years
later, Fastolfe furnished ten nien-at-arms and thirty
archers to serve the king in France. When Harfleur
was captured, he shared with Thomas Beaufort. Duke of
Exeter, the governorship of the town. More renown
was gaine'd by Fastolfe at Agincourt, at the attack
on Rouen, at the relief of Harfleur, at Caen, and
at the siege of Harfleur. In 1418 he was knighted.
Two years later he was governor of the Bastille.
Henry V died in 1422. Under the new king
Fastolfe played an equally conspicuous part, both as a
soldier and an official. Numerous indeed were the
posts he held — Grand Master of the household of
Regent Bedford, lieutenant for the king and regent in
Normandy, Governor of Anjou and Maine. After his
capture of Pacy and Coursay he was made knight-
banneret. At Verneuil he captured, as I have said,
John II, Duke of Alen§on, though he never got paid the
ransom stipulated on the release of his prisoner. Hence-
forward for five years Fastolfe was constantly employed,
and did yeoman's — that is, knightly — service. In 1429,
by his clever expedient of using the herring-boxes as a
defence, he beat off the superior French force which
attacked him while convoying provisions to the relief of
AND Sin JOHN FASTOLFR. 45
the Eijolish army tlien besieging Orleans. Hence the
name " Battle of Herrings".
This was the culminating point in his military career.
Though a Knight of the Garter — for Fastolfe had reached
this distinguished position in 1426 — times of trouble
were in store for him. On June 18th, 1429, at Patay, in
company with Talbot, he suffered defeat. Monstrelet,
in an untrue account, states that Fastolfe behaved with
cowardice, and narrates that he was degraded from his
Knighthood of the Garter. An eye-witness of the fight,
Jean de Wavrin, states quite the contrary. Anstis, in
his history of the Order of the Garter, does not uphold
Monstrelet ; and says that Bedford could not have
deprived Fastolfe, as alleged, lacking the power to
do so. What Shakespere has made of the character
of this brave old warrior we all know. Shakespere's
caricature was intentional we can hardly doubt,
despite the fact that in the original draft of the
play Falstaff bore the title of Sir John Old-
castle. Oldcastle (the real one) was a Lollard ;
Fastolfe was suspected of sympathy with Lollards.
Lord Cobham, a descendant of Oldcastle, objected to
his family name being ridiculed. Shakespere therefore
changed the name from Oldcastle to Falstatf (Fastolfe);
for nearly all details, barring the alleged cowardice, the
drunkenness, lechery, and the intimacy with Prince Hal,
coincide in the cases of Falstaff and Fastolfe. Now, to
show how little this charge of cowardice need be
regarded, let us look at facts. The very next year,
1430, Fastolfe was appointed Lieutenant of Caen. In
the next he raised the siege of Vaudemont, and the year
following was nominated English Ambassador to Basle.
In 1434 he assisted in the negociations which led to the
peace of iVrras. Did ever a degraded K.G. do the like?
For six years longer he served his country abroad,
always in posts of honour. Then he retired from his
military career, returned to England, and set to work to
build his castle. His wealth was enormous, and Fastolfe
was a man not given to letting slip any opportunity to
increase that wealth. A confirmed litigant, he was
never so happy as when engaged in a legal battle.
46 CAISTER CASTLE
Hardly can we wonder that the lower classes loved him
not. In the days of Jack Cade, Fastolfe was perforce
comjDelled to take refuge in the Tower, leaving his
house in South wark garrisoned. But Fastolfe personally
had received notice that he was specially marked out for
destruction by the rebels. The remainder of his life
w^as passed in lawsuits and castle building.
Caister was finished in 1454, and Sir John died there
childless in 1456. His enormous property then formed a
pretty bone of contention, but for the details I must
refer you to the Paston Letters, in which may be read full
and particular accounts of disputes which arose as to the
division of the spoils — nay, even inventories of the
spoils themselves. Fastolfe left three w^ills, all dated
November 3rd, 1456, two days before his death, hence
a good deal of trouble. But the possessions — ninety-
four manors, four houses (viz., Caister, Southwark,
Norwich and Yarmouth), £2643 10s. in cash at Bennet's
Abbey, 3400 ounces of plate at Caister, and goods and
chattels almost innumerable in all his dwellings — were
worth fighting for. William Worcester, the Duke of
Exeter, John Paston, the Duke of Norfolk, and the Duke
of Suffolk laid claim to various portions of the estate,
real and personal. William Worcester — i.e., William of
Wayneflete — obtained a portion, which eventually passed
to swell the foundation of Magdalen College, Oxford,
where the seven "demies" thus provided for M^ere in later
times known as Fastolfe's " buckram-men".
John Paston, son of John Paston, took possession of
Caister, and held it with a garrison of twenty-eight men
against the Duke of Norfolk, who led thither an army of
3000 men — horse, foot, and artillery — laying siege in due
form. The besieged lost one man during the brief
contest, and killed two of the besiegers— a most
creditable feat of arms, I take it. Having surren-
dered, the Pastons were tried for murder, but nothing
more came of the matter. The Duke of Norfolk died, and
the castle was quietly given up to Paston. Then the
new owner proceeded to build up and endow the college
and chapel which Fastolfe had by will appointed. This
he accomplished, and in 1474, by agreement with Wayne-
AND SIR JOHN FASTOLFE. 47
flete, handed over the patronage and endowment thereof
to Magdalen College, seven priests and seven poor
scholars to be supported therewith.
ThePaston family held Caister till 1599, when, having
fallen into difficulties, a sale to a creditor, one Crowe,
took place. From that day prosperity departed from the
grand old castle ; neglect, fire, decay, and human dese-
cration have wrought its ruin. But we may admire —
nay, must admire — the fragment left to us, and cannot
but admit that in the list of Old England's worthies the
founder of Caister, Sir John Fastolfe, K.G., holds a no
inconsiderable place.
NOTES ON CROXDEN ABBEY.
BY C. H. COMPTON, ESQ.
(^Read at the Stoke-on-Trent Congress, Aug. 1895.)
ROXDEN Abbey, now in ruins, is situate
at Croxden or Crokesden, in the county
of Stafford, five miles from Uttoxeter.
In A.D. 1176 Bertram de Verdun, who,
says Leland in his Collectanea, was
lord of Staunford, gave the Cistercian
monks of Aulney (Alnetum), in Nor-
mandy, a piece of ground at Chotes whereon to build an
abbey of that order, which was in three years removed
to Crokesden, where it continued till the general
suppression. It had an abbot and twelve monks, and
was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and styled
Abbatia de Valle Ba^atse M arise de Croxden.
Chotes, says Bishop Tanner in his Monasticon, was
perhaps Cotton or Cawton, a member of the Lordship of
Alveton (now better known as Alton), the chief place of
the residence of the Verdons in those times. It is now a
chapelry in the parish of Alton, in the south division of
Totmanslow, in the county of Stafford, four miles north-
east of Cheadle. The living is a perpetual curacy
annexed to the vicarage of Alton in the diocese of
Lichfield.
Some of the old chroniclers appear to have confused
this abbey with Crokestone, which, says Lambarde, in his
Topograjyhical Dictionary, was in King John's time a
house of canons not far from Lafford Castle in Lincoln-
shire ; the abbot whereof resorted to the same King a
little before his death, and ministered to him physic both
of the body and soul ; to whose house he bequeathed
ten pounds in land and his heart to be buried there.
NOTES ON CROXDEN ABBEY. 49
This must refer to the Premonstratensian Priory of
Crokestone or Croxton, m Leicestershire, a full account
of which is given in the second volume of Nichols'
History of Leicestershire ; but it is also stated that King
John's heart was buried in the church of St. Giles at
Crokesden, an edifice nearly as old as the abbey.
Dugdale, in the Monasticon, says King John was a
benefactor to this abbey at his death. He ordered his
heart to be buried here, and gave land to the monks of
Croxden to the value of ten pounds a year. The abbot
appears to have been the King's physician in his last
moments, and he refers to Matt. Paris, Hist. Anglice, ed.