213 



CAERGWRLEY. 



CAERMARTHENSHIRE. 



214 



Trinity, called also Abbaye-aux-Dames, which was founded by 

 Matilda, the Conqueror's wife, in 1066. This structure is built in 

 the form of a Latin cross ; it is remarkable for the severe elegance 

 of its architecture, and for the beauty of its nave ; the sanctuary 

 is raised several steps above the pavement, and is canopied by a 

 cupola painted in fresco. Under the sanctuary is a crypt, the vault 

 of which is supported by thirty-four massive pillars. A magnificent 

 mausoleum long stood in the centre of the choir in memory oi 

 Matilda, who was buried in this church; in 1562 her coffin and bones 

 shared the same fate as the Conqueror's. A second monument 

 erected to her in 1708 was destroyed in 1793. The buildings of this 

 abbey have been turned into an hospital since 1823. The church of 

 St.-Pierre is a structure of different ages; its tower erected in 1308 

 is considered a masterpiece. The church of St. -Jean dates from the 

 beginning of the 14th century, and is remarkable for its tower, 

 which leans sensibly to the north. The church of St-Nicholas is 

 considered the purest specimen of the Norman architecture of the 

 llth century extant. It has long been desecrated, and is now used 

 as a shot factory. The castle commenced by the Conqueror, finished 

 by Henry I., and afterwards repaired by Louis XII. and Francis I., 

 still ranks ag a place of defence, though the keep and some of the 

 towers were destroyed in 1793. The church of N6tre-Dame, built by 

 the J emits in 1684, in the Italian style, is a very elegant structure. 

 The angel hovering over the grand altar is considered to be finely 

 executed. The Prefect's hotel, and the court-house, are elegant 

 modern structures. 



Other remarkable objects at Caen are the Hdtel-Valois, now used 

 as an exchange ; the public library, which contains 25,000 volumes, 

 the museum, the botanical garden, the new fish-market, the abattoir, 

 and the granite bridge over the Orne. The city contains many beau- 

 tiful promenades, the finest of which are the Grand Cours, which 

 nun along the Orne ; the Petit Cours ; the boulevards, which are 

 shaded by horse-chestnut trees ; and the (Jours Caflarelli, which run 

 along both banks of the new canal, and are bordered with fine 

 trees. 



The town is famous for the manufacture of Angora gloves, &c. A 

 writer in the ' Dictiounaire de la France ' says that these gloves are 

 made of the down of the Angora rabbit, great numbers of which are 

 reared in the country about Caen ; they are plucked (plume's), he 

 adds, every year, and the fur, which is gray or sometimes white, is 

 worked up without either washing or dyeing. Its industrial products 

 comprise also hosiery and lace, broadcloths, flannel, fine and table 

 linen, cotton cloths, fustians, druggets, straw hate, cotton thread 

 gloves, glazed pottery, porcelain, room-paper, cutlery, Ac. There are 

 several dye-houses, breweries, timber-yards, tan-yards, and slips for 

 building small coasting vessels in the town. 



Caen is an entrepot for salt. There is a considerable coasting and 

 export trade in paving granite, and building stone. Other articles of 

 trade are corn, wine, brandy, cider, clover-seeds, hemp, cattle, horses, 

 poultry, butter, fish, salt provisions, ironmongery, steel and hardware, 

 and millstones. A railway in course of construction from Itosny 

 near Mantes on the Paris-Rouen line to Cherbourg passes through 

 Caen. 



(Dictionnaire de la Prance ; Annuciire pour 1853 ; Official Paperi.) 



TAKKGWKLEY. [FLINTSHIRE.] 



I 'AKKLAVKHOCK." [DUMFRIESSHIRE.] 



CAKIU.KON, Monmouthshire, a market-town in the parish of 

 Llangattock and lower division of Usk hundred, is situated on the 

 right bank of the river Usk, in 51 37' N. lat., 2" 56' W. long. ; dis- 

 tant 22 miles S.W. by S. from Monmouth, 148 miles W. from London 

 by road : Newport station of the South Wales railway, which is 158 

 miles from London, is about 4 miles from Caerleon. The population 

 of the town of Caerleon in 1851 was 1281 ; that of the entire parish 

 of Llangattock was 1539. The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry 

 of Monmouth and diocese of LlandafT. 



Caerleon is believed to have been at an early period the capital of 

 Wales, and the seat of an archbishopric shortly after the introduction 

 of Christianity into Britain. The Romans had here a station named 

 by them Isca Silunim. Its site is now for the most part covered 

 with fields and orchards. A space of ground 222 feet by 192 feet, 

 which has received the name of Arthur's Round Table, is conceived 

 to have been a Roman amphitheatre. Portions of the ancient walls 

 remain, about 14 feet in height and 12 feet in thickness. The ruins 

 of a fortress, said to be Norman, existed here about a century ago : 

 portions of the buildings then standing were 40 feet high. On an 

 eminence by the river Usk arc the remains of the ancient castle of 

 Caerleon. Antiquities of various kinds, chiefly Roman, have been 

 dug up in the town and vicinity. Previous to the Reformation there 

 existed at Caerleon an abbey of Cistercian monks. 



The pariah church has a tower of early English date and style ; the 

 nave, aisle*, and chancel are perpendicular. The interior has been 

 modernised. The Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists and Baptists 

 have placn of worship in the town. There are an Endowed school, 

 a National, and an Infant school. A handsome building has been 

 erected ag a museum for Roman and other antiquities. There is 

 little trade in the town ; tin-plate works give employment to some 

 inhabitants. The market-day is Thursday ; there are fairs on 

 the third Wednesday in February, May 1st, July 20th, and September 



21st. St. Julian's, the residence of the celebrated Lord Herbert of 

 Cherbury, is about a mile and a half from Caerleon. 



(ClifFe, Book of South Wales; Communication from Caerleon.) 

 CAERMARTHEN, or in Welsh CAER FYRDDYN, the capital 

 of Caermarthenshire, a municipal and parliamentary borough, and the 

 seat of a Poor-Law Union, is situated in 51 51' N. lat., 4 19' W. 

 long. ; 218 miles W. by N. from London by road, and 245 miles by 

 the Great Western and South Wales railways. It stands on the right 

 bank of the river Towy, or Tywi, near where that river bends to the 

 south to empty itself into Caermarthen Bay. Caermarthen is a 

 borough and county of itself. The population of the county of the 

 borough of Caermarthen in 1851 was 10,524. Caermarthen returns 

 one member to the Imperial Parliament. The corporation consists 

 of 6 aldermen and 18 councillors, who annually elect a mayor. For 

 sanitary purposes the borough is governed by a Local Board of Health. 

 The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Caermarthen and 

 diocese of St. David's. Caermartheu Poor-Law Union contains 29 

 parishes and townships, with an area of 156,459 acres, and a popu- 

 lation in 1851 of 38,119. 



Caermarthen has been identified with the Maridunum of Ptolemaeus, 

 one of the towns of the Demetse. Remains of two Roman camps 

 and several other vestiges of the Roman occupation have been 

 discovered in and near the town. It was afterwards the residence of 

 the princes of South Wales. In the contests between the neighbouring 

 Welsh chieftains for the possession of the district, and iu the wars 

 between the natives and the Anglo-Saxons and Normans, the castle 

 of Caermartheu was a post of importance, and frequently changed 

 hands ; in these struggles it suffered much. In the time of Charles 

 L the castle was garrisoned by the Royalists, from whom it was taken 

 by the Parliamentarians. It was probably dismantled shortly after- 

 wards, and allowed to go to decay ; part of it was however occupied 

 as the county jail till towards the close of the last century. 



The situation of Caermarthen is very beautiful, and the inequality 

 of its site gives it a picturesque appearance. The streets are 

 irregular and steep, and many of them narrow; the leading 

 streets however are well paved, and lighted with gas. The principal 

 edifice is the guildhall in the centre of the town, a capacious 

 modern building, raised on pillars, with a covered market underneath. 

 The county jail occupies part of the site of the castle. There is a 

 good market-place out of the town. A substantial bridge of several 

 arches crosses the Towy, by which the road from Swansea enters 

 Caermarthen. The parish church, dedicated to St. Peter, is a plain large 

 building, with a square tower. Sir Richard Steele lies buried here. 

 Some remains of a former church dedicated to St. Mary are still left, 

 as also of two religious houses, a priory of the canons of St. Augus- 

 tine, and a house of Franciscan or Gray Friars. There arc several 

 places of worship belonging to Baptists, Wesleyan Methodists, 

 Calviuistic Methodists, Independents, and Unitarians; in most of 

 these chapels service is performed in the Welsh language. 



Sir Thomas Powell's Grammar school, founded in 1720, is free to 

 boys dwelling in Caermarthen and its neighbourhood, and had 25 

 scholars in 1852. The college for the education of young men for 

 the Presbyterian ministry had 25 students in 1852. The South 

 Wales Training College, established in 1848 at Caermarthen by the 

 Welsh Education Committee in connection with the National School 

 Society, had 42 students in residence in the college in 1852. Thtre 

 are also in the town National, British, and Infant schools ; an 

 infirmary ; and a literary and scientific institution. 



There are tin works and iron foundries in the neighbourhood, and 

 the trade of the place is considerable. The chief fisheries, which are 

 mostly of salmon and scwin, are here carried on in coracles with drag- 

 nets. The quay extends along the banks of the Towy : the vessels which 

 come to Caermarthen are chiefly coasters : the communication with 

 Bristol is great Vessels of from 50 to 150 tons burden are built 

 here. Among the exports are timber, bark, marble, slates, lead-ore, 

 bricks, grain, butter, and eggs. 



General Sir Thomas Picton and General Lord Nott were natives of 

 Caermarthen. A monument to the memory of Picton was erected 

 on an eminence adjoining the town, but having fallen into a 

 dilapidated state it was taken down in 1846, and rebuilt on a smaller 

 scale. 



(Cliife, Book of South Wala ; Communication from Caermarthen.) 

 CAERMARTHENSHIRE, a county of South Wales, situated in 

 the western part of that principality, between 51 41' and 52 9' N. 

 lat., 3 38' and 4 48' W. long., is bounded N. by Cardiganshire, E. by 

 Brecknockshire, S.E. by Glamorganshire, S.W. by the sea, and W. by 

 Pembrokeshire. Its greatest length is about 53 miles, its greatest 

 breadth about 33 miles. The area of the county is 606,331 acres; it 

 in the largest of all the Welsh counties. The population in 1841 was 

 106,326 ; in 1851 it was 110,632. 



Surface, Hydrography, Communication!. Caermarthenshire par- 

 takes of the mountainous character which is general in Wales, but the 

 elevation of the mountains is not so great as in some other counties. 

 In the northern part of the county a range, distinguished by different 

 names, runs nearly parallel to the boundary between this county and 

 Cardiganshire, about four miles within the county. This range sepa- 

 rates the vale of the Teify from that of the Cothy, a feeder of the 

 Towy. The highest point is probably New Inn Hill, 1168 feet above 



