at any time be raised (the foundations of the tower and the position
of the ditches can still be distinctly traced). Supposing, further,
that it became impossible to hold the tower, the besieged could
retreat into the main body of the castle by means of another
drawbridge across the great ditch, which would lead them through the
arch (which can still be seen in the ruins, though it is partially
blocked up). The room on the east side of this passage was probably
a guard-room. In some castles of this date there were also two or
three tunnels bored through the earth-work from the inner courtyard
to the bottom of the great ditch, so as to provide additional ways of
retreat for such men as might otherwise be cut off in those parts
most distant from either of the great gates, in order to secure the
outlying defence.

Henry de Blois must have been thinking of the many feudal castles of
his native France. He was a magnificent prelate, though involved in
the wars of his brother and the Empress Matilda. The hospital of St.
Cross, and much of the beauty of Romsey Abbey, are ascribed to him,
and he even endeavoured to obtain that Winchester should be raised to
the dignity of a Metropolitan See. It does not appear that all his
elaborate defences at Merdon were ever called into practical use; and
when his brother, King Stephen, died in 1154, he fled from England,
and the young Henry II. in anger dismantled Merdon, together with his
other castles of Wolvesey and Waltham; nor were these fortifications
ever restored. The king and bishop were reconciled; and the latter
spent a pious and penitent old age, only taking one meal a day, and
spending the surplus in charity. He died in 1174.