What to See in England Part 37

On a gra.s.sy knoll, adjoining the Castle Hotel and overlooking the river Bran, are the remains of Llandovery Castle, built about the twelfth century, and dismantled by Cromwell's orders.

Llandovery is a good starting-place for the ascent of the Carmarthens.h.i.+re Van (_i.e._ Beacon), about 13 miles distant, one of the highest peaks in South Wales. The view from the summit of the Van in clear weather is magnificent. Near at hand are the Black Mountains, a rather gloomy sandstone range, and in the distance are the mountains of North Wales, Swansea Bay, and the Devons.h.i.+re coast. An easy descent may be effected on the south-eastern side of the mountain to Penwyllt station, on the Brecon-Swansea line. Just below this is Craig-y-Nos Castle, the home of Madame Patti-Nicolini.

Among other interesting excursions from Llandovery are those to Irecastle, a village in the valley of the Usk; Ystradffyn, near which a splendid panorama of the valley of the Towy is obtained; and Pumpsaint, a romantic village with a gold-mine near at hand.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _H.F. Dann._

LLANDOVERY CASTLE.

It was built in the twelfth century, and dismantled by Cromwell's orders.]

DARTMOUTH, DEVON

=How to get there.=--From Paddington. Great Western Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Dartmouth (by steam ferry from Kingswear).

=Distance from London.=--229 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 5-1/2 to 7 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 34s. 6d. 21s. 6d. 17d. 3d.

Return 60s. 3d. 37s. 10d. ...

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Royal Castle Hotel," "Raleigh Hotel," etc.

=Alternative Route.=--None.

There is scarcely a more romantic spot in the whole of England than Dartmouth. Spread out on one of the steep slopes of the Dart, it overlooks the deep-set river towards the sea and inland towards Totnes.

Steep wooded banks rising out of the water's edge give the windings of the estuary the feeling of solemn mystery which is not obtainable from meadows or ploughlands. In the midst of scenery of this character--and it must have been richer still a few centuries back--the inhabitants of Dartmouth made history.

Perhaps the earliest mention of Dartmouth is by Chaucer. Among his Canterbury Pilgrims he says:--

A schipman was ther, wonyng fer by weste; For ought I wost, he was of Dertemouthe.

Whether this particular "schipman" was given over to piracy it is not possible to say, but the nature of their splendid harbour, which they protected with a great chain drawn across the narrow outlet to the sea, led the Dartmouth men into a trade which to-day goes by that name. Thus in the days of Queen Elizabeth, and even in more recent times, these l.u.s.ty sailors gained a livelihood by periodical harryings of the opposite coast of Brittany, suffering in the chances of such warfare the disadvantages of sudden incursions of the Bretons, which, despite the chain and the two little castles at the mouth of the inlet, were sometimes so successful that when the Frenchmen retired there were a good many heaps of smoking ashes where comfortable homes had stood.

Despite the varied turns of fortune's wheel, there are still many fine old gabled houses in Dartmouth, with overhanging upper stories rich in carved oak.

The church of St. Saviour contains a finely carved pulpit, and is full of indications of the wealth and importance of Dartmouth in the past.

Though a chain is no longer used to close the entrance to the Dart, the remains of the two little towers are still to be seen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

THE b.u.t.tER MARKET AT DARTMOUTH.

Although the town possesses many fine old seventeenth-century houses, these in the b.u.t.ter Market are the finest examples.]

RICHMOND, YORKs.h.i.+RE

=How to get there.=--Train from King's Cross. Great Northern Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Richmond.

=Distance from London.=--237 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 6-1/2 to 9-1/2 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 33s. 6d. ... 19s. 9d.

Return 67s. 0d. ... 39s. 6d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Fleece Hotel," etc.

=Alternative Route.=--Train from St. Pancras _via_ Sheffield. Midland Railway.

Richmond was a place of considerable importance at the time of the Norman Conquest, when William I. gave the t.i.tle of Richmond to his kinsman, Alan Rufus, on his obtaining the estates of the Saxon Earl Edwin, which then extended over nearly a third of the North Riding of Yorks.h.i.+re. When Henry VII., who was Earl of Richmond, came to the throne, these possessions reverted to the Crown, and many years later Charles II. gave the t.i.tle to the Lennoxes, with whose descendants it still remains.

The castle, which is the most striking feature of Richmond, stands on an almost perpendicular rock, 100 feet above the level of the Swale, and in its best days must have been practically impregnable. The structure is now in ruins, though the Norman keep with pinnacled corner towers is still intact, the walls being over 100 feet high and 11 feet thick. At the south-east corner is the ruin of a smaller tower, beneath which is a dungeon 15 feet deep, and at the south-western corner is another lofty tower. The castle originally covered five acres, and from its magnificent position commanded the whole of the surrounding country.

The church, standing on the hillside near the castle, is full of interest, and has been admirably restored by Sir Gilbert Scott, who used the old materials as far as possible. The greater part of the choir and the tower are Perpendicular, the rest Decorated, and two of the old Norman piers remain at the west end. The screen and stall work brought from Easby Abbey are of great beauty, and the carvings on the subsellia are quaint and humorous.

Besides the castle, there are the remains of a Grey Friars' monastery, founded in 1258 by Ralph Fitz-Randal, and situated at the back of French-gate; and about a mile from the town the ruins of the monastery of St. Martin and the abbey of St. Agatha, on the north bank of the Swale, in the adjoining parish of Easby.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

RICHMOND CASTLE.

It stands upon a perpendicular rock one hundred feet above the river Swale.]

TINTAGEL

=How to get there.=--Train from Waterloo, L. and S.W. Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Camelford. Thence by omnibus to Tintagel (4-1/2 miles distant) twice daily.

=Distance from London.=--241 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 6-1/2 to 8 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 41s. 0d. 26s. 3d. 21s. 3d.

Return 72s. 2d. 46s. 4d. 42s. 6d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"King Arthur's," "Castle Hotel,"

"Tintagel," etc.

Tintagel Castle is situated near Bossiney, a place of some importance in bygone times, to judge from the number of ruins of houses to be seen there. Situated as the castle is, high up on a ma.s.s of dark, slaty rock in one of the wildest parts of the coast of Northern Cornwall, it is a suitable spot to be the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. The formation of the rocky ground is very interesting. Tintagel itself is almost an island, but a low isthmus connects it with the mainland. On both sides of the chasm are the ruins of the castle, and wide as the gap is, the buildings on the mainland and on the rock are in an exact line, and present the same characteristic features, thus showing that there has probably been a considerable subsidence of the land at that point.

The castle must have been almost inaccessible. In the time of Leland a chapel occupied part of the keep. Some doubt is entertained as to the date of the building of the castle, opinion being divided between a Norman, a Saxon, or a Roman origin.

The remains of a British or Saxon church are to be found on the summit of the island. The church is supposed to have belonged to the abbey and convent of Fontevrault, in Normandy. It was afterwards given by Edward IV. to the Collegiate Church of Windsor, the dean and the chapter being the patrons. Parts of the church of Tintagel have recently been restored by the vicar of the parish.

About 3 miles from Tintagel is the Slaughter Bridge, which derives its names from the two great battles which were fought there, one between King Arthur and his nephew, who died in 542, when Arthur was said to have been mortally wounded, and the other between the Britons and Saxons in 823. Other ancient relics in the form of barrows and stone crosses are to be found in this neighbourhood.