CHAP. Ill- WIM.mi KDWAIIDS, HllIDGE BUILDER. L'H'.i 



on a considerable scale, and very shortly there was no 

 building <>fany magnitude or importance in tin- neigh- 

 bourhood whether it were a mansion, a mill, or an iron 

 forire whieh IK- was not willing as well as competent 



to undertake. 



During liis leisure he took great pleasure in studying 

 the ruins of Caerphilly Castle, near to where he lived. 



RUINS OF CAEBPHIIXY CASTLE. 



This castle was once the largest in the kingdom next 

 to Windsor, and its ruins are still of great extent, 

 covering an area of about thirty acres. Its walls 

 are of prodigious thickness, and its leaning tower lias 

 stood for centuries, inclining as much as eleven feet 

 out of the perpendicular, held together principally by 

 the strength of its cement. This old castle was the 

 college in which Edwards studied the principles of 

 masonry; and he himself was accustomed to say that he 

 had derived more advantage from wandering about the 

 ruins, observing the methods adopted by the ancient 

 builders, the manner in which they had hewed, dressed, 

 and set their stones, than from all the other instruction 

 he reeeived. It was while employed in erecting a mill 

 in his own parish that lie iirst applied the knowledge he 

 had g: lined by studying the ruins of ( 1 aerphilly, in the 

 construction of an arch. The mill was finished to admi- 



