In 1223
eight hundred marks were paid to Engelhard de Cygony, constable of
the castle, John le Draper, and William the clerk of Windsor, masters of
the works, and others, for repairs and works within the castle;. the
latter, it is conjectured, referring to the erection of a new great hall
within the lower ward, there being already a hall of small dimensions in
the upper court. The windows of the new building were filled with
painted glass, and at the upper end, upon a raised dais, was a gilt
throne sustaining a statue of the king in his robes. Within this vast and
richly decorated chamber, in 1240, on the day of the Nativity, an infinite
number of poor persons were collected and fed by the king's command.
During the greater part of Henry's long and eventful reign the works
within the castle proceeded with unabated activity. Carpenters were
maintained on the royal establishment; the ditch between the hall and
the lower ward was repaired; a new kitchen was built; the bridges were
repaired with timber procured from the neighbouring forests; certain
breaches in the wall facing the garden were stopped; the fortifications
were surveyed, and the battlements repaired.
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