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Gaerfilly, Caen is governed by a prefect, a secretary general, 

 ,aerleon. a receiver general, a paymaster general, and a receiver 

 *~ v ~"" of the customs ; and is the seat of the cour imperiale 

 for the departments of Calvadjs, ! /rue, and La Manche. 

 It has also a court of criminal and special justice, a 

 tribunal of commerce, and a chamber of manufactures, 

 &c., Tiie population of this city, according to the 

 .recent returns of the post-office, amounts to 36,000. 

 North Lat. 49 11', West Long. 17'. See Peu- 

 chet Dictionnaire> &c. ; and Tynna Almanack du 

 Commerce 1811. (L) 



CAERFILLY, CAEKPHYLLYON, or CAERPHIL- 

 LY, (a word signifying a castle of hasie], is a small 

 town of South Wales, in the county of Glamorgan, 

 remarkable chiefly for the ruins of an immense castle. 

 It is a neat town, with many good houses, and is 

 situated in a broad valley, and encircled with barren 

 and dark mountains. The Roman coins found among 

 the ruins, sufficiently indicate the high antiquity of 

 the place. The castle of Caerfilly is supposed by 

 Warner, to have been originally erected in 1090, by 

 Robert Fitzhamon, lord of the bed chamber to 

 William Rufus ; but it is the opinion of Daines Bar- 

 rington (See Arc/ueologia, vol. i.) that it was erected 

 by Edward I. This extensive structure is said to 

 have once covered an area of two acres, while its fosse 

 was crossed by thirteen drawbridges. Its ruins are 

 highly interesting both to the painter and to the 

 architect. The citadel, which resembles a separate 

 castle, is inclosed by two moats ; and its gateway, 

 which is a high Gothic arch, having its centre sup- 

 ported by two circular bastions, forms the western 

 entrance to the inner court. A range ef noble apart- 

 ments, communicating with a long gallery, surrounds 

 this court. The great hall, which is 70 feet by 30, 

 and 17 feet high, is a fine specimen of Gothic archi 

 lecture. The north window of the chapel is very 

 perfect and elegant ; and the mint, which is arched 

 in a curious manner, is furnished with two furnaces 

 for melting metal. At the east end of the inner 

 court is the leaning tower, which is a circular build- 

 ing 80 feet high, and deviates 11 feet from a vertical 

 line. 



The inhabitants of this place are principally em- 

 ployed in the manufacture of pig and bar iron. Here 

 is also a small manufacture of stockings and blankets ; 

 and at the fairs are sold horned cattle, horses, sheep, 

 pigs, and yarn stockings. Number of houses 70 ; 

 population 200. See Archawlogia, vol. 1. Wurner'g 

 Tour in South Wales, Evan's Tour in Souih Wales, 

 1804-. And Malk-n's Scenery, Antiquities, and Bio- 

 graphy of South Wales, Ih04. (?r) 



CAERLEON. * tht j Isca Silurum, Iscacolonia, 

 and Isca-legionis secundce of the Romans, is a small 

 town in Monmouthshire, situated on the river Uske, 

 which is crossed by a long wooden bridge. The 

 numerous remains of ancient splendour which have 

 been found in this place ; the altars, pavements, sta- 

 tues, inscriptions, and coins, which have at different 

 times been discovered, sufficiently shew that it was 

 formerly a great Roman city ; while the bricks and 

 tiles, with the inscription of LEG. II. AUG. prove 



it to have been a station of the second Augustan le- 

 gion of the Roman army. While the Romans re- 

 inained in Britain, Caerleon was the seat of govern- 

 ment for that division of the island, which was called 

 Britannia Sccunda. In subsequent times it was the 

 object of numerous contentions between the English 

 and the Welsh, till it was finally possessed uy the 

 English, after the subjugation of the Welsh by Ed- 

 ward I. It continued long in the possession of the 

 crown, but afterwards came into the family of Mor- 

 gan of Lantarnon, and is at present the property of 

 Mr Blanning. 



The description of this place by Gyraldus Cam- 

 brensis, who visited it in the 12th century, is parti- 

 cularly worthy of notice. " Many remains," says 

 he, " of its former magnificence are still visible ; 

 splendid palaces, which once emulated with their 

 gilded roofs the grandeur of Rome, for it was ori- 

 ginally bui'.t by the Roman princes, and adorned 

 with stately edifices, a gigantic tower, numerous 

 baths, ruins of temples, and a theatre, the walls of 

 which are partly standing. Here we still see, both 

 within and without the walls, subterraneous build- 

 ings, aqueducts, vaulted caverns, and, what appeared 

 to me most remarkable, stoves so excellently contri- 

 ved ab to diffuse their heat through imperceptible 

 pon-s." This description has been sufficiently con- 

 firmed by the antiquities which have at different pe- 

 riods been discovered. The form of the place, as 

 deliiieafed by the remains of the dilapidated walls, 

 appears to have been nearly a parallelogram with a 

 circular end, including an area of 530 yards by 460. 

 The present height of the parts of the walls that 

 remain is only about 14 feet, and their greatest 

 thicknesa about 11 or 12 feet. They are built of 

 lime-stones, imbedded in cement, some of which 

 st ems to have been tempered with pounded brick. 

 They were faced with hewn stone, but the facings 

 have now been removed. The whole was surround- 

 ed by a fosse ; and four gates, one of which was in 

 the centre of each wall, led to the stations in the 

 other parts of the district. A concave space in the 

 centre of this fortress, commonly called King Ar- 

 thur's Round Table, has been supposed by some the 

 site of a magnificent temple dedicated to Diana, 

 while others more probably imagine it to have been 

 an amphitheatre. The remains of stone seats which 

 were discovered around it, seem to prove that it was 

 a lapidean, and not a campestrian amphitheatre. 

 Although the area within the walls of Caerleon is 

 only about 1800 yards in circumference, yet the 

 suburbs extended to a great distance, and aiv said to 

 have covt red a tract of country about nine miles in 

 circumference. 



The greater part of the antiquities found in this 

 town have been carried away to other places. A 

 few coins, a rude sculpture, in basso relievo, of a 

 Vt-nu'i Marina holding a dolphin in her hand, with 

 the carving of a large marine shell on the reverse, 

 and an antique intaglio, are the only specimens which 

 remain. In 1755, a sudatory was discovered in a 

 field near the river. It was formed of columns, con- 



* The name Caerleon has been generally derived from Caer, a fortified place, and legio ; but the author of the Welsh Dic- 

 tionary contends, that the name should be Caer-Llion, or tke city of Waters; while others suppose that it should 

 which would signify the fortified and learned city. 



