boasts numerous inducements to stay the progress of the antiquary; it is
by some called the Isca Augusta, or Isca Colonia of the Romans, and was a
principal garrison, being the head quarters or main station of the second
Augustan legion, having under it numerous other stations.
Mr. Cox states the shape of this ancient city to be an oblong square,
three sides straight, the fourth curved; the south angle is near the end
of the Round Table field, where the walls are nearly twelve feet thick;
the south-west side passes the amphitheatre parallel to the Usk; the
walls are again to be traced by the Broadway along the Benhouse field;
the west angle runs alongside the Malpas road; on this flank a gateway
leads to Goldcroft common; the north angle forms part of a stable in the
New Inn yard, is again visible in the Castle yard, and turns the east
angle near a rail-road by the Castle ditch; hence the line curves again,
touches on the foss of the Castle, passes through gardens, &c. and is
lost in a lane near the quay till it again becomes discernible near the
south angle. The circumference of the walls, in which there appear to
have been four gates, one in the centre of each flank, was about 1800
feet.
It was a station of the Prætor, and its splendid palaces, its stately
edifices and gilded roofs, might, according to Giraldus Cambrensis’
exaggerated account, have vied with those of Rome itself; its baths, its
aqueducts, its stoves, and proofs of ancient grandeur, were even in his
time amply displayed in their ruins; numerous are the coins that have
been here collected and the riches this spot has afforded to the cabinets
of the curious.
Between Caerleon and Newport is St. Julians, once the residence of Lord
Herbert of Cherbury: the walk to it in fine weather is pleasant, and
although now converted into a farmhouse, traces of its former
respectability are evident. In a small barn near to it are likewise to
be seen the remains of St. Julian’s abbey. According to some accounts,
such was the extent of Caerleon in the days of its grandeur, that it
extended as far as Christ Church and this place, and covered a tract of
country nine miles in circumference.
Ascending the Gam, the ships in the Bristol Channel, with the islands
Flat and Steep Holmes rising in the midst of the sea, and the shores of
Somerset and Devon, formed pleasing objects in the distant view, whilst
the mellow green of nearer woods and meadows, watered by the Usk, made a
combination of views gay and beautiful.
Newport Castle, standing on the bank of the river Usk, is a small
distance from the bridge: it evidently appears to have been once a place
of considerable extent, and built for the defence of the passage over the
river; three strong towers commanded the Usk, but towards the town, a
common wall, without any flanks, seems to have been its sole defence.
Some of the windows still remain, the relics of Gothic architecture, and
appear to have been elegantly decorated. From the tower is a fine view
of the Usk. Between Newport and