an
occasional tuft of rushes to break the trackless level. Here the
soft-eyed Sussex beasts browse knee-deep in luxuriant pasturage. It is
a lonely spot, a place of drowsy solitude, where the plaintive call of
the plover seems the most natural melody. Yet, on a spring morning,
when great white clouds ride across the clear blue sky, when the thorn
is in bloom, and every ditch is brocaded with the gold of myriad
kingcups, then, indeed, it is a place of indescribable sweetness.

Built at the time of the "last of the barons", Hurstmonceux marked the
transition in domestic architecture from the heavily-defended fortress
to the comfortable and luxurious manor-house. As early as the reign of
Edward the Third attempts had been made to combine the strength of
massive masonry with the convenience of more sumptuous apartments, such
castles as Raglan and Warwick leading the way. We have only to stroll
round the present remains to find ample evidence of this double
service. The great arched gateway and battlemented walls, the
machicolated octagonal towers, the moat and drawbridge, the loopholes
for cross-bows, the oeillets for the matchlock guns,--all witness to
the one purpose; while the size and number of the windows in the
dwelling-rooms quite well testify to the other.

In these days the ruined castle is a place of great beauty. Time has
dealt less hardly with it than with some. The colour of the huge
red-brick front has been softened down by wind and rain to a restful
mellow tint in full harmony with the sombre green of the overhanging
masses of ivy; and, though the broken walls with their towers and
half-towers still have a martial air, they have lost much of their
severity of outline.

In the full flush of its being it was a magnificent structure. Just
inside the great gateway there was a courtyard, generally known as the
"Green Court", surrounded by the cloisters. Just beyond this stood the
great dining-hall, a spacious chamber, 54 feet long and 28 wide, with
massive timbered roof and tiled floor; and, opening from it, the Pantry
Court, from which again a paved passage led to the garden. The east
side of the castle included the principal dwelling-apartments,--the
enormous drawing-room, where Grinling Gibbons's vine, a masterpiece of
carving, spread its magnificence over the walls and ceiling; the
chapel, extending up through the two stories; and, on the upper floor,
the "Ladies' Bower" with its peculiar oriel w