448 McdicEval Milita7y ArchitedMre. due weight to the value of the evidence afforded by its remains, it is clear that the excavation of the ditch, both of the hill and the outwork, and the scarping of the former, were the original and English works, to which an early, though not the earliest, Norman lord added the curtain wall of the enceinte, and much of the lower gatehouse. He certainly also built a hall, kitchen, and lodgings within the inner area. The next addition of importance, the keep, was certainly made a century later. The curtain wall was taken down to make room for a part of it, and not only was there no bond between the old wall and the new tower, but the junction was care- lessly and clumsily effected, as may be seen from its present con- dition. Probably some later alterations were made as regards the hall and lodgings. The wall near the entrance to the inner ward seems to have been partially rebuilt, but subsequently to this there does not seem to have been any addition of importance. The castle was no doubt rendered untenable during the wars of Charles I., and time and neglect have since completed the ruin. It is singular that so strong and so remarkable a fortress should be but little noticed in the earlier records. Invention, indeed, in the absence of evidence, has attempted to fasten upon it an early history. "Conyng" has, by British antiquaries, been converted into a Breton Conan, and Caer-Conan, thus constructed, has been mixed up with Aurelius Ambrosius and the Kentish Hengist, who is asserted to have here fought, been slain and buried There is, however, no evidence whatever connecting this place with either the Britons or Bretons, or the Romans, or Hengist. Everything bearing upon its origin is Saxon, but Saxon of a much later date than Hengist. Two tombstones carved in what is generally regarded as a prasconquistal style were long seen in the churchyard, and are now placed for security in the church — so securely placed, indeed, as to be scarcely visible. The earliest mention of the place is probably in the testament of Wulfric Spot, the minister of King Ethelred, and the founder, in 1004, of the Abbey of Burton-on- Trent. By this document, printed by Dugdale in his Monasticon [I. 266], Wulfric bequeaths to Alfred certain lands and fisheries ot Cunuzesbury, so that about a.d. iooo it belonged to that great Saxon. Mr. Hunter, whose history of Conisborough leaves nothing to be desired, points out that this devise was really a very ample one, for the fisheries were not those of the Don but of a part of the Soke of Hatfield, which were of great value. In Domesday, the lord of " Coningesboro " had twenty fisheries at Tudworth, yielding each 1,000 eels, and long afterwards they were important enough to be specially recorded. It seems therefore probable that, at least as early as the year 1000, Conisborough was the head of a large estate or Soke. The name of " Moothill field," borne by an enclosure about three-quarters of a mile south-east of the castle, indicates the place of the court for the liberty or jurisdiction. The hill has been removed. There is a Moot-hall near the church. While the castle has retained something of its ancient name, that
