lxxxviii Journal of Proceedings.
Messrs. Murray Tuke, Joshua Clarke, Joseph Clarke, and Henry Stear,
and the Curator, Mr. Maynard. The Museum contains a very extensive
series of specimens in most branches of Natural History, Geology and
Antiquities, including a complete collection of British Birds [vide report
of second visit of the Club to Saffron Walden, in ' Essex Naturalist,'
vol. iii, pp. 290-91].
The Museum is built in the grounds in which stand the remains of
the Castle, and Mr. G. N. Maynard read a paper on its history and
present condition, of which the following is an abstract :—
Some Account of the Castle of Saffron Walden and its
Possessors.
By G. N. Maynard (Curator of the, Museum).
[Abstract,]
This time-worn and ivy-mantled ruin is a portion only of what at
one period was the keep of a Saxon, and later of a Norman, castle of
formidable construction. Very little of its past history (less than is
usual in such buildings) has been handed down to our time, consequently,
conjecture and tradition have helped to place a halo of mystery around
the old pile.
In the year 1836, Lord Braybrooke, in his ' History of Walden,'
speaking of this ruin (wherein at that time stood a barn and other
buildings), says:—" It is in contemplation to remove this barn, &c., from
its interior, which may lead to some discoveries ; if not, it will at all
events render the ruin more accessible." What is here spoken of in
anticipation, was in the year 1881 carried into effect; at this time the
trustees of the Museum, in whose grounds the old ruin stands, assisted
by the liberality of the late George Stacey Gibson, Esq., among other
alterations, pulled down and cleared away these old buildings, with the
following results.
After a large quantity of earth, consisting of some hundreds of loads,
had been removed for the purpose of tracing, if possible, the existence
of any subway to or from the ruin, nothing was discovered that would
in any way strengthen the tradition that such underground passages
existed. However, in the removal of this earth some interesting relics
were discovered which may possibly throw some little light upon the
matter, and assist in dispelling the mystery surrounding this once
formidable stronghold.
In the centre of the square formed by the walls of the keep was
discovered a mass of concrete similar to the rest of the building ; this
was evidently the lower part, of the pier from whence sprang the arches
that at one time supported the first floor of this part of the keep of the
castle. Traces of this floor arc now plainly to be seen ; it was probably
formed of concrete, supported on these arches, below which would be
those " sundrye deepe and horrible dungeons or prisons " mentioned by
Norden, who wrote in the year 1591. Immediately above where the
traces of this floor occur, on the west side of the ruin, is to be seen a
large opening, formed in the thickness of the wall: this most probably
is the part occupied by the fireplace for this apartment. These excavations
also brought to light the. original well belonging to the keep ; this well,
which is upwards of eighty feet deep, and about three feet in diameter,
is cut in the. solid chalk, having rude steps formed in such a manner as
to enable a. person to ascend or descend without the aid of a ladder ; it
was entirely filled with the debris of the ruin, among which were mould-