he 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.

[Illustration: The Devil's or Dyet Tower on the South-East side of
Pickering Castle. This is often called the Rosamund Tower, but the records
call it the Dyet Tower.]

Soon after this comes the cost of the new hall in the castle. "Clearing,
digging and levelling the place within the castle where the bakehouse was
burnt to build there a hall with a chamber 14s 1-1/2d, building the stone
wall of the hall and chamber, getting and carrying 400 cartloads of stone,
digging and carrying soil for mortar, buying 27 quarters of lime--L5 19s
11d; contract for joiners' work, wages for those employed to saw planks
and joists, 152 planks for doors and windows, 80 large spikes, 600 spike
nails, 1000 broad headed nails and 20,000 tacks, 22 hinges for the doors,
28 hinges for the windows and 2600 laths with carriage for the same--L9 0s
1-1/2d; roofing the buildings with thin flags