Page:Cornwall; Cambridge county geographies.djvu/143

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

ARCHITECTURE MILITARY 127 in Normandy ; at the Conquest it was made over to Robert Earl of Mortain, but the Benedictines of Mont S. Michel continued to have a cell there with a prior. It was con- sequently at once a religious house and a military post. Restormel, near Lostwithiel, consists of a keep crown- ing a hill, with a gatehouse on the west, a projecting tower on the E.N.E., and a chapel. It is not older than St Mawes Castle the reign of Henry III and was the stronghold of the Cardinhams and then of the Traceys, from whom it passed to the Earls of Cornwall. The circular keep is only 30 ft. high. The castle was already ruinous in the time of the Civil War, but it was put in repair and held by the Parliamentary forces till taken by Grenville. St Mawes is a small but perfect castle, erected by Henry VIIL