Читать книгу The Cambrian Tourist, or, Post-Chaise Companion through Wales: 1834 - Anonymous - Страница 21

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boasts numerous inducements to stay the progress of the antiquary; it is by some called the Isca Augusta, or Isca Colonia of the Romans, and was a principal garrison, being the head quarters or main station of the second Augustan legion, having under it numerous other stations.

Mr. Cox states the shape of this ancient city to be an oblong square, three sides straight, the fourth curved; the south angle is near the end of the Round Table field, where the walls are nearly twelve feet thick; the south-west side passes the amphitheatre parallel to the Usk; the walls are again to be traced by the Broadway along the Benhouse field; the west angle runs alongside the Malpas road; on this flank a gateway leads to Goldcroft common; the north angle forms part of a stable in the New Inn yard, is again visible in the Castle yard, and turns the east angle near a rail-road by the Castle ditch; hence the line curves again, touches on the foss of the Castle, passes through gardens, &c. and is lost in a lane near the quay till it again becomes discernible near the south angle. The circumference of the walls, in which there appear to have been four gates, one in the centre of each flank, was about 1800 feet.

It was a station of the Prætor, and its splendid palaces, its stately edifices and gilded roofs, might, according to Giraldus Cambrensis’ exaggerated account, have vied with those of Rome itself; its baths, its aqueducts, its stoves, and proofs of ancient grandeur, were even in his time amply displayed in their ruins; numerous are the coins that have been here collected, and the riches this spot has afforded to the cabinets of the curious.

Between Caerleon and Newport is St. Julians, once the residence of Lord Herbert of Cherbury: the walk to it in fine weather is pleasant, and although now converted into a farmhouse, traces of its former respectability are evident. In a small barn near to it are likewise to be seen the remains of St. Julian’s abbey. According to some accounts, such was the extent of Caerleon in the days of its grandeur, that it extended as far as Christ Church and this place, and covered a tract of country nine miles in circumference.

Ascending the Gam, the ships in the Bristol Channel, with the islands Flat and Steep Holmes rising in the midst of the sea, and the shores of Somerset and Devon, formed pleasing objects in the distant view, whilst the mellow green of nearer woods and meadows, watered by the Usk, made a combination of views gay and beautiful.

Newport Castle, standing on the bank of the river Usk, is a small distance from the bridge: it evidently appears to have been once a place of considerable extent, and built for the defence of the passage over the river; three strong towers commanded the Usk, but towards the town, a common wall, without any flanks, seems to have been its sole defence. Some of the windows still remain, the relics of Gothic architecture, and appear to have been elegantly decorated. From the tower is a fine view of the Usk. Between Newport and