e following reign,
falling completely out of repair, it came to be regarded simply as a
county jail, and its jurisdiction vested in the hands of the sheriff of
the county.

Among the historical facts of later date, connected with the castle, and
bearing date of the same year as that in which Queen Elizabeth visited
the city, is an order issued from Whitehall, to the sheriff of Norfolk,
to imprison within the castle walls certain persons who refused to attend
the service of the church; the letter is preserved among Cole's
manuscripts in the British Museum; the copy of it which is published by
the Archaeological Society, runs thus:

To our loving Friend Mr. Gawdry, Sherif of the Countie of Norfolk.

After our hearty Commendations: whereas We have given order to the
Sheref of the Countie of Suffolke to deliver certain Prisoners into
your hands, who were by our order commytted for their obstinacy in
refusing to come to the Church in time of Sermons sad Common Prayers:
Thes shal be to require you to receive them into your chardge and
forthwith to commytt them to such of her Majesty's gaoles within that
Countie as shall seeme good unto the Lord Bishop of Norwiche, by
whose direction they shall be delivered unto you, ther to remayne in
Cloase Prison untill such tyme as you shalbe otherwise directed from
us. And so we bid you heartely farewell.

From Whitehall, the xxiijrd of February, 1878.

Your loving Freands

W. Burghley. E. Lyncoln. T. Sussex.

F. Knollys. E. Leycester.

Chr. Hatton. Fra. Walsingham. Tho. Wilson.

In 1643 an order was sent to fortify the castle, at the request of the
deputy lieutenant of the county; the order is signed by seven staunch and
influential opponents of the royal party, viz. Tho. Wodehouse, John
Palgrave, Tho. Hoggan, Miles Hobart, J. Spelman, Tho. Sotherton, Gre.
Gawsett.

Information concerning it from this period is scanty, probably little of
interest is connected with its later history, beyond the calendar of
prisoners who have been lodged within its precincts, of which we have no
record, and were it otherwise, we should be reluctant to consult its
pages for materials to enhance the attractions of our "Rambles."

It is to the history of the period prior to its appropriation as a
prison, that we must look for a picture of the life once