142 Bees ton Castle. 



later than 10 A.M., for although the distance is not so 

 great, the attractions are many. Beeston Castle is 

 reached by way of the line from revve to Chester. 

 Shortly after leaving the first-named place, we arrive at 

 Beeston station, and then it is only a pleasant walk 

 across the fields. Excepting Warwick Castle, there is 

 perhaps no more interesting relic of feudal power in 

 England than we behold in this famous and far-seen 

 ruin. Seated upon a promontory, which juts out from 

 the neighbouring hills in a unique and romantic manner, 

 giving the idea, at a little distance, of an insulated rock 

 in a sea of grass, the ruins tower above our heads with 

 an inexpressible and mournful grandeur, that touches 

 the heart like the story of Caractacus in the streets of 

 Rome. More quickly than at any other place of the 

 same nature, the mind runs back to the time when the 

 walls were alive with armed men, and shouts rose from 

 the turrets, now discrowned, and nowhere do we feel a 

 greater contrast between the idea of ancient warfare and 

 of peace, so sweet is the scene that now embosoms 

 the deceased stronghold. On the eastern side, the 

 rock rises from the meadows by a regular, though steep 

 ascent ; on the western, it terminates in an abrupt and 

 absolutely perpendicular precipice, the brink of which is 

 366 feet above the level of the base. Hence, in profile, 

 it presents the appearance of a mountain toppled over, 

 with the stone foundations reared up edgeways. As a 

 military post, the castle in old times was impregnable, 



