From the vast strength of this picturesque edifice, with the natural
moat flowing at its feet, we may guess what the castle must have been
in the early days of the Conquest, and during the wars of Stephen and
Matilda. We may guess, too, that the burghers of Oxford, and the
rustics of the neighbourhood, had no easy life in those days, when,
as we have seen, the town was ruined, and when, as the extraordinary
thickness of the walls of its remaining tower demonstrates, the
castle was built by new lords who did not spare the forced labour of
the vanquished. The strength of the position of the castle is best
estimated after viewing the surrounding country from the top of the
tower. Through the more modern embrasures, or over the low wall
round the summit, you look up and down the valley of the Thames, and
gaze deep into the folds of the hills. The prospect is pleasant
enough, on an autumn morning, with the domes and spires of modern
Oxford breaking, like islands, through the sea of mist that sweeps
above the roofs of the good town. In the old times, no movement of
the people who had their fastnesses in the fens, no approach of an
army from any direction could have evaded the watchman. The towers
guarded the fords and the bridge and were themselves almost
impregnable, except when a hard winter made the Thames, the Cherwell,
and the many deep and treacherous streams passable, as happened when
Matilda was beleaguered in Oxford. This natural strength of the site
is demonstrated by the vast mound within the castle walls, which
tradition calls the Jews' Mound, but which is probably earlier than
the Norman buildings. Some other race had chosen the castle site for
its fortress in times of which we know nothing. Meanwhile, some of
the practical citizens of Oxford wish to level the Jews' Mound, and
to "utilise" the gravel of which it is largely composed. There is
nothing to be said against this economic project which could interest
or affect the persons who entertain it. M. Brunet-Debaines'