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The situation of the Castle is delightful. It is built in the north-west angle of the town, upon a rock, commanding an extensive and beautiful prospect northward. On the west it is shaded by

Gilbert Bourne, Bishop of Bath and Wells, then held the office till Mary's death. Sir John Williams, Lord Williams of Thame, co. of Oxon, on the accession of Queen Elizabeth: he died

in the first year of her reign.

Sir Henry Sidney, in the 2d of Elizabeth: he died, in 1586, at Ludlow. Henry Earl of Pembroke, son-in-law to Sir Henry Sidney.

Edward Lord Zouch, who appears from Mr. Dovas

ton's MS. to have been

Lord President in 1602. Ralph Lord Eure, in 1610. William Lord Compton, af

terwards Earl of North

ampton, 1617. John Earl of Bridgewater, 1631, from Mr. Dovaston's MS.

Prince Rupert.

Richard Lord Vaughan, Earl of Carbery.

Henry Marquis of Worcester, afterwards Duke of Beaufort.

Sir John Bridgeman.

Charles Earl of Macclesfield.

P So Churchyard describes it:

"It stands right well, and pleasant to the view,
"With sweet prospect, yea all the field about."

The Lords of the Marches, selecting the most agreeable and fertile parts of their territories, erected castles for their own residence, and towns for the accommodation of their sol

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a lofty hill, and washed by the river. It is strongly
environed by walls of immense height and thick-
ness, and fortified with round and square towers
at irregular distances. The walls are said to have
formerly been a mile in compass; but Leland in
that measure includes those of the town. The in-
terior apartments were defended on one side by a
deep ditch, cut out of the rock; on the other, by
an almost inaccessible precipice overlooking the
vale of Corve. The Castle was divided into two
separate parts: the castle, properly speaking, in
which were the palace and lodgings; and the
green, or outwork, which Dr. Stukeley supposes
to have been called the Barbican."
The green

takes in a large compass of ground, in which were
the court of judicature and records, the stables,
garden, bowling green, and other offices. In
the front of the castle, a spacious plain or lawn
formerly extended two miles. In 1772' a public
walk round the Castle was planted with trees, and

diers. It was in this manner that most of the present towns and castles on the frontier of Wales were built. Warrington's Hist. of Wales, 3d ed. vol. i. p. 379.

1 Grose's Antiquities.

r Itinerary, Iter. iv. p. 79.

Hodges's Hist. Acc. p. 54.

Ilothard RA. delt.

RH Cromek Sculp

one

sip of this

Will bathe the drooping spirits in delight Beyond the blips of dreams. Be wise & Taste.

Pub Oct.1799 by Edw Harding 98 Pall Mati

laid out with much taste, by the munificence of the Countess of Powis.

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The exterior appearance of this ancient edifice bespeaks, in some degree, what it once has been. Its mutilated towers and walls still afford some idea of the strength and beauty which so noble a specimen of Norman architecture formerly displayed. In contemplating its ruin, however, sensations of regret and indignation will arise: for the Castle is now a melancholy monument, exhibiting the irreparable effects of remorseless pillage and unregarded dilapidation. DR. TODD.

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