The Cambrian Directory [1800]; Or, Cursory Sketches of the Welsh Territories. Anonymous
![The Cambrian Directory [1800]; Or, Cursory Sketches of the Welsh Territories - Anonymous](limg_read903610.jpg "The Cambrian Directory [1800]; Or, Cursory Sketches of the Welsh Territories - Anonymous")
of considerable extent, and built for the defence of the passage over the river; three strong towers commanded the Uske, 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 Uske. Between Newport and
CARDIFF
we crossed the little stream of Ebwith, near the park of Tridegar House, belonging to Sir Charles Morgan. The grounds are well planned, and command the hills of Machan and Tombalœ, with the church of Passaness rising in the centre, on an eminence. The whole valley, indeed, is prettily situated. Passing through the villages of Pediston and Castletown, we soon reached the bridge of two arches, over the river Romney, which divides England from Wales.
The situation of Cardiff is on a low flat, near the mouth of the Taafe, over which has lately been thrown a new Bridge, built by Mr. Parry in 1796: it consists of three large and two smaller arches. The tower of the church is very light, and of elegant workmanship; but nothing in the inside is worthy of inspection.
The Castle derives its name from the river Taff, which washes its walls; Caertaph signifying the Town or Castle upon Taff. Robert Fitzham having conquered Glamorganshire, divided the country into different portions, among the twelve Norman Knights, as a reward for their service, and took for his own share the Town of Cardiff; and erected, in the year 1110, this Castle, in which he generally resided, and held his court of chancery and exchequer. In the beginning of May 1645, during the troubles under Charles I. it was in the possession of the Royalists, but it was surrendered to Parliament before August 1646.
We entered the Castle by two strong gates, which still remain in great preservation, but we were disgusted with the modern architecture of the new-built mansion, erected by the late Marquis of Bute: the neat shorn grass, the gravel walk, were circumstances that ill accorded with the mutilated walls of an ancient ruin, which has braved the storms of so many centuries. The circumstance that tends to render this Castle a melancholy place in history, is the unjust confinement of Robert Duke of Normandy, brother to William Rufus and Henry I. The accounts, however, of his confinement have been greatly exaggerated by historians; and a dark vaulted room, beneath the level of the ground, measuring nearly a square of fifteen feet and a half, is still pointed out as the place of his confinement; a small crevice in the top, about half a yard in length, and three inches wide, was the only place to admit the air. He was buried in Gloucester Cathedral, where his effigy as big as life, carved in Irish oak, and painted, is yet shewn. The Keep, which is still very perfect, of an octagon shape, stands on an eminence in the centre of a large square. Having walked round the ramparts, which command extensive views of the adjacent country, we visited the Castle itself, which has, within these few years, been repaired, but still remains in an unfinished state. In the Dining-room are some portraits, in length, of the Windsor family: the most striking are,
1st. Sir William, who first raised forces for Queen Mary.
2d. Sir Edward, who first entered the breach at the taking of St. Quintin, in Flanders, where the famous Constable de Montmorency was taken prisoner.
In the Breakfast-parlour is a family piece, consisting of seven figures: it was painted in the year 1568. Holbein, I rather imagine, was the painter: it consists of two Sisters playing at Cards, and two Brothers at Drafts, with Edward Earl of Windsor and his lady looking on. The style is stiff, with ruffs, small black caps and feathers.
| Andrew Windsor, to the right of the fire-place; general in the reign of Queen Ann, serving in the 28th regiment of foot | Kneller. |
| Thomas Windsor, to the left, who served in several wars of William and Queen Ann, and was Colonel of the 3d regiment of Dragoon Guards, in the reign of George I. | Kneller. |
| Lady Ursula Windsor | ibid. |
| Hon. Matter Windsor | Painter unknown. |
| A good painting of Ursula Countess of Windsor, with her grand-daughter Ursula Windsor | Kneller. |
| Thomas Lord Windsor, Governor of Jamaica | Vandyke. |
| Hon. Charlotta Windsor | Dahl. |
| Hon. Ursula Windsor | Dahl. |
| Hon. Dixia Windsor, storekeeper of the ordnance, and for six successive parliaments member for Cambridge. |
This Castle belongs to a grandson of the Marquis of Bute.
In this place, Robert Earl of Gloucester founded a Priory of White-friars, and another of Black, which continued till the reign of Henry VIII. Only the shell of the White-friars is now extant, and the ruins of the Black-friars are inhabited by fishermen.
From hence we walked to inspect the remains of that once celebrated city
LANDAFF;
the ruins of the old Cathedral are very beautiful, the door cases are all Norman architecture elegantly moulded; two of which, on the North and South sides, are fine specimens of that æra. All the other parts are Gothic: the nave is unroofed. Within these ruins we entered the Cathedral, which carries with it more the appearance of a modern theatre, than a place of divine worship, so erroneous was the taste of the architect, in combining with the sacred Gothic, a fantastical work of his own. Among several ancient monuments, are two very elegant ones of the Mathews family, [18a] whose descendants own the scite of the Bishop’s Castle, of which only the gate remains: the rest, with the Archdeacon’s house, was destroyed by Owen Glendour. [18b] There are likewise the monuments of two bishops, with another, and the figure of Lady Godiva, full length, carved in marble on it.
Landaff stands on a small eminence, commanding a view of Cardiff, and the surrounding country.—We returned again to Cardiff: and the first six miles of our road to
CAERPHILY
were not very interesting, till ascending Thorn Hill, the beauties of the vale below, with Flat and Steep Holmes rising in the distant prospect, the ruins of Cardiff Castle, and the ivy-mantled walls of Landaff Cathedral, amply compensated for the trouble of climbing this eminence. A little farther on, Caerphily Castle burst upon our sight, and
—“seem’d to frown,
In awful majesty on all around.”
The founder, and the time of its erection are very uncertain; but I refer my readers to the first volume of the Archæologia; to an ingenious Dissertation, by Daines Barrington, where it is satisfactorily proved to have been the work of Edward I. This Castle is one of the noblest ruins of ancient architecture now remaining in the kingdom, and exceeds all in bigness, except that of Windsor. The Hall and the Chapel may still be traced; the former measures about seventy feet in length, thirty-four in breadth, and seventeen in height. The roof is vaulted about eight feet high, and supported by twenty arches. On the North side is a chimney, ten feet wide, with two windows on each side, extending down to the floor, and carried above the supposed height of this room. At each angle was originally a round tower of four stories, communicating with each other by a gallery. On the West side