Page 78

78
  The ground floor of the castles erected during the reigns of the early
Norman kings was quite dark, and the floor above was provided with
narrow loop-holes.   On the second floor windows were introduced, and the
apartments were fitted up for domestic uses.
  When it is remembered that ecclesiastics were intrusted with the designing
and execution of the castles as well as the churches of this early age, and
when we call to memory the strange admixture of warlike propensities and
religious zeal, which distinguished the great mass of the people, it will
not
appear strange that a chapel should have been introduced into these strong-
holds.   There is an instance of this in the Tower of London, and       
it is
most probable that no castle was built without a provision for the performance
of the rites of the church.
   In the reigns of the second and third Henry the dwelling rooms in the
castles were still more improved; but it was not till the reign of Edward
the First that they possessed any degree of comfort, much less of elegance.
This monarch had, when engaged in the crusade, an opportunity of visiting
the castles on the Levant, and in the Holy Land, which he found to be in
every respect superior in their accommodations to those of his own countty.
After the conquest of Wales he erected the castles of Caernarvon, Conway,
Harlech, and Beaumaris, all of which were very superior to any that had
been before built in that country or in England.
   The castle of Caernarvon may be said to consist of two parts, one of
which was intended for military purposes, and the other appropriated as a
palace.   In the palatial portion of the building   stands a large polygonal
tower four stories in height, which was occupied by Queen Eleanor, and ii
one of the apartments of which her unfortunate son was born.
  Conway Castle was erected, according to the opinion of some antiquaries
more with the intention of obtaining a convenient residence with the meam