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THE VALLEY OF KNILL. 
By James Edward Davis. 
Stranger, if Nature charm thee, if thou lov’st 
To trace her awful steps, in glade or glen, 
Or under covert of the rocking wood. 
That sways it’s murmuring and mossy boughs 
Above thy head ; now when the wind at times 
Stirs its deep silence round thee, and the shower 
Falls on the sighing foliage; hail her here 
In these her haunts.,” Bowles. 
It is a no less true than trite remark, that we seek for fine scenery, and the- 
"beauties of Nature, amid the recesses of the Alps, or on the banks of the Rhine, 
and leave the charms of our own country to be discovered and enjoyed by 
foreigners. We certainly collect crystals from the cliffs of Snowdon, and pebbles 
from the coast of Scotland, but we do little more ; we visit a few places pointed 
out by a guide-book, but we do not investigate and discover beauties for ourselves; 
the consequence is, that a large portion of British scenery remains comparatively 
unknown; and I now write to call the attention of the readers of T/ie Naturalist 
to a spot which is well worthy the trouble of visiting. 
The Valley of Knill lies between the towns of Presteign and New Radnor, on- 
the road from Worcester and Birmingham to Aberystwith. 
The first impression on the traveller would probably be a sentiment of wonder, 
that such scenery could have so long remained unknown and unnoticed. The 
hills which surround this valley, although of moderate elevation, are of so pic¬ 
turesque shapes, and harmonize in such a manner with each other, as to furnish 
a variety of landscapes each worthy the pencil of a Claude, especially if viewed 
on a summer evening, when the rocks cast a broad shadow over the more hidden 
recesses of the Valley, while the summits of the hills are clothed in joyful sun¬ 
shine, long after night has closed on the inhabitants of the vale below. 
The valley is irrigated by the river Somergil, the noisy turbulence of whose 
rapid waters is drowned amid the various operations of the men employed at the 
kilns, which supply a large portion of the Radnorshire agriculturists with lime. 
The monotonous din of the iron instruments employed in raising portions of the 
rock, is broken every now and then by the startling and terrific sound of an 
explosion, by which some giant mass of limestone has been raised from its 
slumbers of past ages. 
Even the cottages and farm-houses are, generally speaking, far from being- 
destitute of beauty, and have a picturesque effect which in these days few places 
can boast of. 
No. 14, Vol. IL 
3h 
