CAERLEON, Monmouthshire (Fig. 11).--Domesday Book speaks of the _castellaria_ of Caerleon.[312] A _castellaria_ appears to have meant a district in which the land was held by the service of castle-guard in a neighbouring castle. The Survey goes on to say that this land was waste in the time of King Edward, and when William de Scohies, the Domesday tenant, received it; _now_ it is worth 40s. _Wasta_, Mr Round has remarked, is one of the pitfalls of the Survey. Perhaps we shall not be far wrong if we say that in a general way it means that there was nobody there to pay geld. When this occurs in a town it may point to the devastations committed at the Conquest; but when it occurs in the country, and when it is accompanied by so clear a statement that the land which was _wasta_ in King Edward's time and at the Conquest is now producing revenue, the inference would seem to be clear that the castle of Caerleon was built on uninhabited land. Caerleon, however, had been a great city in Roman times, and had kept up its importance at least till the days of Edgar, when it is twice mentioned in Welsh history.[313] It must therefore have gone downhill very rapidly. Giraldus mentions among the ruins of Roman greatness which were to be seen in his day, a gigantic tower, and this is commonly supposed to have belonged to the castle.[314] It certainly did not, for Giraldus is clearly speaking of a Roman tower, and the motte of the Norman castle not only has no signs of masonry, but has been thrown up over the ruins of a Roman villa which had been burnt.[315] The motte and other remains of the castle are outside the Roman _castrum_, between it and the river. The bailey is roughly pentagonal, and covers 4-3/4 acres. The manor of Caerleon was waste T. R. E. and had risen to 40s. T. R. W.[316] [Illustration: FIG. 11. Caerleon, Monmouth. Carisbrooke.]