Possibly, indeed,
other parts of the edifice may have been more ancient; such certainly
was the "Conqueror's kitchen," a singular octagon building, with four
tall slender chimneys capped with perforated cones. This was destroyed
many years ago; but Ducarel obtained an original drawing of it, which he
has engraved. Amongst the ruins there is a chimney which perhaps
belonged to this building.--The guard-chamber and barons' hall are noble
rooms: the former is one hundred and ninety feet in length and ninety in
breadth. You remember how admirably the _Lay of the Last Minstrel_ opens
with a description of such a hall, filled with knights, and squires, and
pages, and all the accompaniments of feudal state. I tried, while
standing by these walls, to conjure up the same pictures to my
imagination, but it was impossible; so desolate and altered was every
thing around, and so effectually was the place of baronial assemblage
converted into a granary. The ample fire-place still remains; but, cold
and cheerless, it looks as if had been left in mockery of departed
splendor and hospitality. I annex a sketch of it, in which you will also
see a few scattered tiles, relics of the magnificent pavement that once
covered the floor.
[Illustration: Fireplace in the Conqueror's Palace, at Caen]
This pavement has been the subject of much learned discussion; because,
if the antiquity of the emblazoned tiles could be established, (which it
certainly cannot) we should then have a decisive proof of the use of
armorial bearings in the eleventh century.
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