MARGAM PARK, 



{.GLAMORGANSHIRE, 



THE 

 or 



MISS TALBOT. 



THH ' in South Wales hy road or r.nl from 



Bridgend to Neath, after passing the sea \\ard opening 

 of the Llynri Valley, finds himseli presently passing 

 tlir.iu^h a very interesting part tit ( ilanior^anshire. 

 On his lelt I K! space <>t s.mdy (Lit. with the 



Hue waters oi Sxxanse.- Bay beyond, \\hile m the ri^lit rises 

 the splendid wooded hill n| Mynydd Marram t>i a height i>f 

 aNmt Sooft. It is a jil >rio;is elevation, clothed from base in 

 summit with the rich foliage of an oak xvoo.l, which covers it 

 me two miles a I .n.; the slope. The district thereabout is 

 one nl -real natural attractions, and nut less of coinmerci.il 

 possibilities, which have been much developed, as sh.ill shortly 

 he mentioned. 



un Abbey, that picturesque mKlern structure which 

 :epM. st.uuls near the Um-worn ruin in a favourable 

 situation, having the lull for its background, and commands 

 .vrb view of W.HI.I, M -.i. .md sky. The stormy south- 

 xx esters, in their tempestuous cotir.se, have sometimes done 

 considerable damage here, and have swept lor generations th.- 

 huge sleeps ot M\ nvdd Marram, keeping the oaks thereon to 

 something approaclun^ a unit' >rm lev.-l. Few giants now lift 

 their heads above the crowd, and thus from a distance the hold 

 flank of the hill seems as if covered with a dense mass of well- 

 clipped iireen. Between the house and the sea lies the ^r 



s.indy exp.in-e, winch would inov- landwa'd under the hr. 

 had n-it the late Mr. C. R. M. Talh.it plant. titles 



of Arundo arenaria, wli az \\idespread roots bind the shilling 

 mass together. 



When the broken hosts of tin- Ke.l knu had fruitlessly 

 carried his arms into the m mntain tastuess.-s. and had Iveii 

 driven back hy hardship and famine, his sun-'svir on the 

 throne entered upon a \\iser and m ire ma-terful, il less s|..rmy 

 and violent, policy. The Principality was dmcVI hy internal 

 stnle at the time, and a sy>tem ol gradual OMK|;I- st tx-u in. the 

 new tide ot invasion llowin^; alon^ the oi.ist, and vising sin. h 

 le\-el expanses as that below Maryam Park to ^.nii a tootlvild, 

 trom \xhich adx-.iiues inland mi^ht be made, the base resting 

 ii|vin the sea. ( )ne Welsh ciiielt.iin summoned Robert i : it/- 

 Hamon, the lord of G ster, t Ins aij, and the d.-i.-at ot 



Rhys ap Tudor, the last prince xvho united Southern Wales 

 under his rule, produced conditions of an irihy xvhich enabled 

 F.t/-Hamoii to land safely on the coast .if ( ilanvi^an, lonquer 

 the country round, and divide it amn;; his t ,l|...xets. He 

 himsell had a castle at kenli^, two miles south ot Marram, 

 xvhich braved the elements tor a-es. but at length xvas over- 

 whelmed by the sea in the sixteenth century. I he dexotirin^ 

 sand engulfed it almost entirely, but still some fragments 

 may he seen amidst the xvaste, while the whole church there 



GARDEN AffCHITECTLH;. 



