founded at the latter place an
abbey of Benedictine nuns, his reputation as an architect rests chiefly
on his having designed the keep of the Tower of London (probably that of
Colchester also), and built the stone wall round the new castle at
Rochester for William Rufus. While engaged in superintending the
erection of London keep, Gundulf lodged in the house of one Eadmer
Anhoende,[12] a citizen of London, probably a friend of the Bishop,
for we find his name occurring as a generous donor to Gundulf's new
cathedral at Rochester, where, by his will, he directed his own body and
that of his wife to be interred, and to have an obit annually. Gundulf's
work therefore consisted of the great keep (afterwards called the White
Tower), which he erected close to the line of the Roman city wall, and
some fifteen or twenty feet within it. At first this was probably (like
its sister keep at Colchester) only enclosed by a shallow ditch and a
high earthen bank, crowned by a stout timber palisade, the city wall
forming two sides of its perimeter, and probably broken through where
the ditch infringed upon it at either end. With the sole exception of
Colchester keep, which, as will be seen from the following table of
dimensions, is considerably larger, the tower or keep of the castle of
London exceeds in size the great rectangular keep of every other castle
in the British Isles. Unfortunately, the two upper stories of Colchester
keep have been destroyed, but sufficient remains (coupled with the
resemblance of its plan to that of the White Tower) to show that both
were designed by the same hand and erected about the same period, while
both alike were royal castles.

TABLE OF COMPARATIVE DIMENSIONS

LONDON. COLCHESTER.
Length (North to South) over all 121 feet 170 feet
Ditto within Buttresses 118 " 153 "
Breadth (East to West) over all 100 " 130 "
Ditto within Buttresses 98 " 115 "
Breadth of Apse 42 " 48 "
Diameter of Apse 21 " 24 "
Length (on South Side) over all 128 " 153 "
Number of Stories 4 now 2
Total Height 92 feet ---
Height of Two Lower Stories 42 " 32 feet
Thickness of Walls 15 " 14 "

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