Marino, an extensive
new mansion in the Elizabethan or old English style of architecture,
belonging to Mr. J.H. Vivian, and Woodlands Castle, the seat of General
Warde, which is very picturesque, are particularly deserving of
attention. After passing the hamlet of Norton, you near Oystermouth
Castle, an extensive and splendid Gothic ruin, in fine preservation,
which rears its "ivy-mantled" walls, above an eminence adjoining the
road. Some suppose it to have been built by Henry de Newburgh, Earl
of Warwick, in Henry the First's reign; others ascribe it on better
authority to the Lords Braose, of Gower, in the reign of John; it is now
the property of the Duke of Beaufort, whose care in its preservation
cannot be too much commended. The inspection of this interesting ruin
will repay the traveller:
By the grim storm-clouds overcast,
Even like a spectre of the past,--
Of rapine, feudal strife, and blood,
Thou tellest an old, wild, warlike story,
When squadrons on thy ramparts stood,
With spear and shield in martial glory!
DELTA.
The walls are very lofty and not much injured by time; the plan of the
various chambers, extensive vaults and chambers in the inner courtyard,
can be perfectly distinguished.
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