the hill, so we have clearly here an indication ,that the peak is a mere remnant of a considerable part of the hill, which at this particular point was not precipitous, but sloped with an easy descent to the sea, and rendered it necessary to defend the castle in this quarter by a ditch: this spot we shall afterwards find specially defined as " infra claustrum ," below the fortified enclosure , or Castle. The ditch is thus described in "A Topographical and Historical Description of the County of Sussex," published (Moss says, writing in 1824) a few years ago. " On the north-west side was another ditch of the like breadth ( 100 feet ) commencing at the cliff opposite to the westernmost angle , and bearing away almost due north, leaving a level intermediate space , which , opposite to the Sally Port, was 180 feet in breadth."[1] The Castle, in the picture,may have been, as Mr. PLANCHE says, one of the wooden castles the Conqueror brought with him : but it was of course only temporary, and was replaced by the massy walls of the present structure, which , as the composition of the mortar, and other details show , must have been commenced about this period. As at Pevensey , the Norman Castle was placed within the area of older works.
- ↑ Moss, History of Hastings, p . 63
