A huge portcullis still
frowns down upon us, and two others opposed the way, while above are
openings in the vault through which melted lead, heated sand, pitch,
and other disagreeable things could be poured on the heads of the foe.
In the courtyard on the south stands the great hall with its oriel,
buttery, and kitchen, and amidst the ruins you can discern the chapel,
sacristy, ladies' bower, presence chamber. The castle stayed not long
in the family of the builder, his son John probably perishing in the
wars, and passed to Sir Thomas Lewknor, who opposed Richard III, and
was therefore attainted of high treason and his castle besieged and
taken. It was restored to him again by Henry VII, but the Lewknors
never resided there again. Waller destroyed it after the capture of
Arundel, and since that time it has been left a prey to the rains and
frosts and storms, but manages to preserve much of its beauty, and to
tell how noble knights lived in the days of chivalry.
Caister Castle is one of the four principal castles in Norfolk. It is
built of brick, and is one of the earliest edifices in England
constructed of that material after its rediscovery as suitable for
building purposes. It stands with its strong defences not far from the
sea on the barren coast. It was built by Sir John Fastolfe, who fought
with great distinction in the French wars of Henry V and Henry VI, and
was the hero of the Battle of the Herrings in 1428, when he defeated
the French and succeeded in convoying a load of herrings in triumph to
the English camp before Orleans.
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