the cart-wheels 1s; making a hedge round the fishpond, cutting and
carrying boughs, wages of the hedger--4s 6d; making a long cord of hemp 20
ells long weighing 6 stone of hemp for the Castle well--4s 9d; burning
after Feb. 2 old grass in Castle Ings that new grass may grow--8d; 8 men
cutting holly, ivy and oak boughs in different parts of the forest for the
deer in a time of snow and ice, 9 days at 2d a day--12s 2-1/2d; wages of a
man sent to the king [Edward II.] with a letter from the bailiff to
acquaint the king with certain secrets by letters of privy seal, going,
residing there and returning, 9 days at 3d a day for food and wages--3s
9d."

In the Close Rolls of 1324, there is an order to "John de Kelvington,
keeper of the Castle and honor of Pickering, to cause to be newly
constructed a barbican before the Castle gate with a stone wall and a gate
with a drawbridge in the same, and beyond the gate a new chamber, a new
postern gate by the King's Tower and a roof to a chamber near the small
hall; to cover with thin flags that roof and the roof of the small
kitchen, to remove the old roof of the King's prison and to make an
entirely new roof covered with lead, and to thoroughly point, both within
and without, the walls of the castle and tower, and to clean out and
enlarge the Castle ditch. All this to be done out of the issues of the
honor as the King has enjoined him by word of mouth, and the expense
incurred therein when duly proved will be allowed him in his accounts.
Pickering, 10th August, 1323."

About the year 1314 there is an item in the accounts of eighty planks
bought at Easingwold and carried to the castle and laid in the gangway
leading from the chamber of the Countess to the chapel. The nails for this
work cost 5s. 6d.