It is stated that the erection of the Castle was begun in 1011, and finished in 1013. The building partakes both of the castle and mansion, the form quadrangular, the angles being strengthened with bastion-like towers, each surmounted by a small turret. The principal entrance, through a fifth massive arched tower, is at the north front, leading into a court-yard 160 feet long by 100 broad. Around this are ranged the different apartments, and the east side is ornamented by a handsome colonnaded piazza. The north and east wings are occupied by the family, and the south and west given up to the offices. The most remarkable of the apartments are, a saloon of sixty feet by thirty, lighted by three large mullioned windows looking towards the court; a drawing-room thirty feet square; and an oak gallery, extending the whole length of the west wing, one hundred feet by twenty-two, leading to the chapel. The ceilings throughout are ornamented by rich plaster work, and the rooms display a large collection of paintings. Among the portraits are those of the Myddelton family, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, the Duke of Ormond, and his son Lord Ossory, the Countess of Warwick, daughter of the fourth Sir Thomas Myddelton, and afterwards wife to the celebrated Addison, author of the “_Spectator_” and other classic writings. Among the landscapes there is a view of the admired water-fall, _Pistill Rhaiadr_, in Montgomeryshire, represented as falling into the sea. Of this work of art a pleasant story is told. The artist employed in taking the view was a foreigner, to whom it was hinted, when he had nearly finished the picture, that the addition of a few sheep would add to the effect. The painter replied, “you want some _sheeps in it_. O! O! ver veil. I vill put you some _sheeps_ it.” He then introduced the sea, and with it several _ships_! The picture being thus ludicrously transformed, it was allowed to remain in its altered state as an artistic curiosity; and the visitor when inspecting it is sure to have his risible muscles disturbed by so droll a metamorphosis. The gallery contains several old cabinets, the work probably of Italian or French Artists; one, an exceedingly handsome one, a gift from Charles II. to the brave Sir Thomas Myddelton.