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Dewstow and Brockwalls glimpses only of the channel from the 
former, and of the distant hills of Shirenewton and Grey hill from 
the latter, indicated what a wide panoramic view might have 
been seen would only the leaden haze have lifted for however so 
short a time. But it might have been worse, and the rain, 
which was only slightly falling, might have been heavier, and 
so the disappointment was cheerfully borne. Arriving within 
sight of the walls of Caerwent, the Rector, the Rev. T. D. 
Jones, was seen waiting at the ‘“Caerwent brook ;” and 
having taken a dry seat placed at his disposal, with energy by 
no means damped by the rain, acted as the guide philosopher and 
antiquarian friend of the party, and pointed out all the objects 
of interest as they passed along. The road on the E. and 
N. follows the line of the ancient ditch, and pieces of the old 
wall are seen here and there on the left hand through the over- 
hanging bushes and trees which almost conceal it, but act at the 
same time as a protection from the pilfering hands of the 
inhabitants who are only too ready to appropriate the ready 
squared Roman blocks for their own needs; the whole of the 
village (now nestling within the ancient walls which enclose a 
space of about a mile in circumference) has been built out of 
the ruins of the old city. The squared limestone blocks, forming 
the facing of the walls, have generally been stripped off, exposing 
the rough inner core, and only on the S. can they be seen in 
perfection. Here they rise to a height of some 24ft., and are 
12ft. thick at the base and 9ft. thick at the top. Entering the 
village on the west by the Via Julia, which intersected the 
ancient Venta Silurum at right angles and connected it with 
Caerleon and Chepstow, the first halt was made at the church. 
Dedicated to the first martyr, S. Stephen, Mr. Jones stated that. 
it was the oldest ecclesiastical foundation in Wales, and called 
attention to the curious arcading on the S. wall of the 
chancel, a veritable crua antiquorum. The form at present is 
merely that of a tower at the W. end, with nave and chancel. 
