refinement of detail. A creeping paralysis set in later, and the end
came swiftly when the dark days of the eighteenth century blotted out
even the memory of a great past. And yet during all this time the
people, the poor and middle classes, the yeomen and farmers, were ever
building, building, quietly and simply, untroubled by any thoughts
of style, of Gothic art or Renaissance; hence the cottages and
dwellings of the humblest type maintained in all their integrity the
real principles that made medieval architecture great. Frank, simple,
and direct, built for use and not for the establishment of
architectural theories, they have transmitted their messages to the
ages and have preserved their beauties for the admiration of mankind
and as models for all time.

[Illustration: Wilney Street Burford]




CHAPTER V

OLD CASTLES


Castles have played a prominent part in the making of England. Many
towns owe their existence to the protecting guard of an old fortress.
They grew up beneath its sheltering walls like children holding the
gown of their good mother, though the castle often proved but a harsh
and cruel stepmother, and exacted heavy tribute in return for partial
security from pillage and rapine. Thus Newcastle-upon-Tyne arose about
the early fortress erected in 1080 by Robert Curthose to guard the