<g>Carmarthenshire</g>.
“For some brief passion
Are centuries of high splendour laid in dust,
And that eternal honour, which should live
Sun-like above the rock of mortal fame,
Changed to a mockery and a by-word.”
[Illustration: K]<g>IDWELLY</g> is supposed to have been erected by Rhys,
Prince of South Wales, at the close of the twelfth century; and even
now, after the lapse of five hundred years, it presents, in strength and
appearance, one of the most striking examples of feudal architecture in
Wales, where the science of castle-building attained the highest
perfection. The old town of Kidwelly, over which the Castle once threw
its protecting arms, is now ruinous; but a new Kidwelly, reared in
happier times, and thriving under the arts of peace, seems to cast a
glance of mingled pity and reproach upon the enormous fortress, whose
very existence in such a situation is a melancholy proof of barbarism
and bondage--
“When ‘might was right,’ and spear and brand
Subdued and meted out the land--
Demesnes, which he who built the strongest,
And only he, retained the longest.”
<g>History.</g>--Describing the situation of Kidwelly, the Chronicle says, “So
great is the bay or creek that here getteth within the land, that this
country seemeth, as it were, for very fear to have shrunke back, and
withdrawn itself more inwardly. The territory around this bay was held
for a time by Keiani the Scot’s sonnes, until they were driven out by
Cuneda, the Cambro-Briton, and is now counted part of the inheritance of
the Dutchy of Lancaster, by the heires of Maurice of London, or De
Londres, who, making an outroad hither out of Glamorganshire, after a
dangerous war, made himself master hereof, and
[Illustration: _Kidwelly Castle._]
fortified old Kidwelly with a wall and castle to it, which now for very
age is growen to decay, and standeth, as it were, forlet and forlorne:
for the inhabitants, having passed over the little river
Vendraeth-Vehan, built a new <g>Kidwelly</g>, enticed thither by the commodity
of the harbour, which, notwithstanding being at this day choked with
shelves and barres, is at this present of no great use. While Maurice de
Londres,” continues the Chronicle, “invaded these parts,
[Gwenliana,[403]] the wife of Prince Gruffin--a stout and resolute woman
in the highest degree--_ultimæ audaciæ mulier_--in order to recover the
losses and declining fortunes of her husband, came, with displaied
banner, into the field, and assailed him, but the successe of her
enterprise not answering to her courage, she, with her sonne Morgan, and
other men of especial note, was slaine in battle.
“By Hawes, or Avis, the daughter and heire of Sir Thomas de Londres,
this passing faire and large patrimony, together with the title of Lord
Ogmoor and Kidwelly, came unto Patrick Chaworth, and by his son
Patrick’s daughter, unto Henrie, Earle of Lancaster. Now the heires of
the said Maurice of London, as we learn from an old inquisition, for
this inheritance were bound to this service--namely, that if their
sovereign lord the King, or his Chiefe Justice, came into the parts
about Kidwelly with an armie, they should conduct the foresaid army,
with their banners and their people, through the mids of Nethland, as
far as to Loghar.”
<g>The Castle</g> is in a more perfect state than any other ruin in the
Principality: “meately well kept up,” says old Leland, “and veri faire
and double waullid;” having been repaired by Alice de Londres, wife of
one of the Dukes of Lancaster, and lastly in the reign of Henry the
Seventh. Its appearance is literally grand and imposing. The ruins
comprise a quadrangular area, enclosed by strong walls, defended by
massive circular towers at the angles, and also by bastions in the
intervals--as shown in the accompanying illustrations. The principal
entrance, which is at the west side, is under a magnificent gateway,
flanked by two round towers, and is still in good preservation. Many of
the state apartments are almost entire. Of these the groined ceilings,
in some instances, with other portions of the edifice, display many
interesting features of the early style of English architecture. The
chapel is sufficiently indicated in the engraving by its lancet-pointed
windows, and forms a noble and characteristic feature of this truly
majestic edifice.
<g>Kidwelly</g> is strongly situated, having on two sides a precipitous descent
to the river Gwendraeth, and few things are finer than the first view of
its massive and turreted bulwarks ranging along the summit of the cliff.
The principal entrance was on the west, by means of a gateway, flanked
by round towers, one of the most perfect and beautiful in the kingdom.
This, however, is now closed, and the visitor, after clambering up the
steep old street on the other side of the bridge, is conducted to an
entrance in the rear of the building, communicating with a “pleasaunce,”
or terrace promenade, now overgrown with noble trees. On entering the
interior, the extent and massiveness of the remains create a feeling of
astonishment. There were three courts divided by walls and towers; and
in the centre is a building defended by four other towers, the grouping
of which surpasses that of any other interior in Wales, unless, perhaps,
that of Pembroke.
“We then clambered on the ramparts, entered the chapel, adorned with
delicate lancet-pointed windows, and looked down from a dizzy height
upon the river Gwendraeth, which rolls its melancholy stream through the
marshy valley below. Altogether we were quite unprepared for the extent
and preservation of this magnificent fortress, and regretted much that
previous arrangements had left us so little time for its
exploration.”[404]
The view from the ramparts is extensive: the valley of the
Gwendraeth--the old town and its spire--the distant marshes and the
sea--all blend together, and form a grand but melancholy picture, which
harmonises with the feeling inspired by the aspect of the whole place
and neighbourhood--
“How grand, and beautiful, and vast,
Fortress and hall of ages past!
With battlement and turret crown’d,
And iron ramparts girdled round;
Whose shadow, stretching o’er the land,
Whose bulwarks, desolately grand,
Whose chambers, voiceless and forsaken,
A tide of mingled thoughts awaken,
And dreams of fancy that restore
The Barons and the Bards of yore,
When trumpet-peal, from turret wall,
Proclaimed the knightly festival.”--_MS._
The air of the place is considered salubrious and the town healthy; but
the importance which it formerly derived from its situation on the banks
of a fine navigable river, within half a mile of its influx into the
great bay of Carmarthen, has ceased--a reverse occasioned by an
accumulation of sand, which has formed a dangerous bar across the mouth
of the river. Its commerce, once flourishing, has consequently declined;
while the opening of collieries, and the establishment of copper-works
at Llanelly--to which port that of Kidwelly is a creek--have transferred
the trade to that place.
“The scale has shifted--freighted barks no more
Visit, with welcome sail, the lonely shore:
Unprofitable weeds usurp the strand--
The once wide port presents a mound of sand.
But these stout towers, defying time and tide,
Still o’er the scene in massive strength preside
Kidwelly’s walls, firm as the native rock,
Have braved, for centuries, the tempest-shock.”
Many fruitless attempts have been made to improve the navigation of the
river, by removing the obstructions alluded to. In 1766, some docks and
a short canal were constructed here. The navigation was afterwards
transferred to the “Kidwelly Canal Company,” by whom it was extended
about two miles up the valley of the Gwendraeth; and a branch, three
miles and a half in length, was constructed to communicate with Pembrey
harbour. Here were formerly both iron and tin works, the former of which
have been entirely abandoned, and the latter are continued only in a
diminished scale.
Kidwelly received its first charter of incorporation from King Henry VI.
James II., in the sixteenth year of his reign, granted to its
inhabitants their present charter, by which the government is vested in
a mayor, a recorder, two bailiffs, and a common council of twelve
aldermen, and twelve principal burgesses, assisted by a town-clerk,
chamberlain, two sergeants-at-mace, and other officers.
[Illustration: Ancient dwellings near Manorbeer Castle.--See Note, p.
327.]