Nooks and Corners of PembrokeshireTimmins, H. Thornhill (Henry Thornhill)
History
Nooks and Corners of Pembrokeshire
Timmins, H. Thornhill (Henry Thornhill)
Pembrokeshire (Wales) -- Description and travel
At the farther end of the courtyard rise the picturesque walls and
arches of a lofty group of buildings, containing the banqueting-hall and
chapel. This appears to have been the handsomest part of the castle; and
the great hall, with its broad flight of stone steps and stately range
of pointed windows overlooking the sea, must indeed have been a noble
apartment. Beneath it, in grim contrast, lurks a series of dark,
windowless dungeons.
Entering the chapel by a flight of ruinous steps fringed with sprays of
spleenwort fern, we explore its dimly-lighted recesses, and discern
traces of half obliterated colour decoration. Clambering by a narrow
stone stairway to the grass-grown roof, we awaken the resentful clamour
of a colony of jackdaws; anon we peer into the tiny chamber for the
priest, and dive into the gloomy crypt, with its low-vaulted roof and
fireplace improvised from a desecrated tomb.
[Illustration: MANORBERE CASTLE.]
Then out once more into the castle garth, to follow the loopholed wall.
This terminates in the many-sided Pembroke Tower, which, bowered in
climbing plants, boasts a certain diminutive chamber wherein, as the
local tradition runs, Giraldus Cambrensis, the famous Welsh historian,
was born. Thence ensues another stretch of lofty wall, backed by a
series of curious flying buttresses: and our peregrination is completed
beneath the hoary, lichen-clad stonework of the great tower beside the
entrance gateway. This is the oldest part of the castle, and (with
apologies to the local tradition) probably the only portion of it that
dates as far back as the days of the worthy Giraldus.
The water-gate, set deep in the seaward wall, is flanked by a huge mass
of stonework which still bears traces of the smugglers' ineffectual
efforts to dislodge it. Following a rough track that winds down the
rocky slope, we stroll onward beside a pretty rill of water
meandering, amidst bullrushes and marsh marigolds, to the moss-grown
wheel of the castle mill. Here we linger upon the rustic foot-bridge to
enjoy a charming retrospect. The gray walls of the grim old castle,
crowning the low, steep hill we have just descended, are reflected in
the placid stream at our feet. A group of low-roofed cottages, and the
mill with its plashing wheel, nestle in the valley beneath; while the
towers and gables of the quaint old parish church peep from a rival hill
that fronts the sea.
The western flank of the castle looks down upon a weed-grown marsh,
occupying the site of a lake that formerly protected it upon that side.
Beside the marsh stands a picturesque old stone pigeon-house, smothered
in ivy and golden lichens; beyond which extends a secluded vale shaded
by oak, ash and holly, that formed part of the ancient park or chase of
Manorbere. The whole scene has a quiet beauty of its own very pleasant
to contemplate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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