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Handy Guide-Book to England and Wales for the Use of Visitors in This Country
Handy GuideBook to England and Wales for the Use of Visitors in This Country Author:Edward Smith General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1897 Original Publisher: G. Allen Subjects: England Wales Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Bo... more »oks.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: Bushey -- Caerphilly 59 [15] Caerleon, Monmouthshire, 3 m. N. E. from Newport. Village, with an unaltered British name, associated in old romance with the renowned King Arthur. Of its importance in very early times there can be no doubt. It was the Isca Sihirum of the time of Claudius, when a legion was stationed here, as a stage on the great road from Londinium to the point where St. Davids now stands. The fortifications were three miles in circuit, enclosing an area within which were erected temples, baths, aqueducts, an amphitheatre, and splendid dwellings of every sort. The remains of the city as existing in the twelfth century are described by Giraldus Cambrensis as very magnificent, as though it had emulated the grandeur of Rome herself. Camden saw it four hundred years later, and there were then many traces of its old glories. Of all this there are now few outward vestiges beyond some fragments of the walls, and of Roman villas, the amphitheatre, and other earthworks. But the relics of all sorts -- domestic, military, religious -- which have been found beneath the soil are in great numbers, many of which are deposited in a local museum, where is to be seen, indeed, a surprising collection of Roman and Celtic miscellaneous objects. Besides being a place of political importance, Caerleon was a seat of learning and Christian devotion. There were three churches. A Cistercian monastery was the chief religious establishment. It was the metropolitan See of Wales until the transfer of the bishopric to St. Davids. Of the origin of the castle there...« less