Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/881

Rh MONMOUTHSHIRE, 873 MONMOUTHSHIRE. second district comprises the eastern portion of the cv.mty, inluding the valleys of the Severn, Wye, and U*k, which possess such natural ad vantages and fertility ', of soil that iho whole country wears the appearance of a 11 ; and the third district comprises the mountainous 11 towards the W., where the soil upon the hills is ally shallow, and occasionally entirely sterile, ling scanty pasture to the flocks of small sheep which number about 170,000, yielding 2,000 wool packs. The arable land lies mostly towards the E., and rich loam, mixed with peat, is the soil of the level lands along the Xuwe. The largo Hereford and other cattle are used for labour. Barley and oats form the principal crops in the N. and N.W. ; but in the more sheltered valley s of Usk and Wye, wheat, potatoes, peas, beans, and turnips are largely grown. Apple orchards are plentiful in favoured situations, especially adjoining the Hereford- shire border, and oak coppice abounds. Besides smaller forests of oak and ash, Wentwood Forest alone comprises 2,170 acres, and was formerly much larger when it took in the castles of Dinham, Lanvaches, Llanvair, Penhow, Pencoed, and Striguil, or Troggy. There are also 5,000 acres of common at Greensnore. The climate in the southern part of the county is very temperate and salu- brious, but in the N. and W. among the hills it is colder and more damp on account of the greater quantity of rain that falls, the passing clouds from the Channel being attracted by the hills. The estates are in general large, but the farms of moderate size, varying from 100 to 300 acres of arable, mostly held by the farmers at will. The county is traversed for about 23 miles by the South Wales line of railway, which, passing by Chepstow, Portscuett, Newport, and Rumney, follows the bank of the Severn to Cardiif, and communicates by steam ferry across the estuary of the Severn with Bristol. A line of railway has also been recently constructed along the bank of the Monmouthshire canal, from Newport past Pontypool and Abergavenny to Hereford. These two main lines are connected by numerous branch lines with the Vale of Neath railway, besides local branches to most of the large manufacturing villages, and tramways to the coal and iron mines. The turnpike roads are numerous and well kept, traversing the county in various directions. The principal lines from Monmouth are through Llantillio, Cresseny, Abergavenny, andTredegar, to Merthyr Tydfll in Brecknockshire, 25 miles ; another line through Kagland, Usk, and Caerleon, to Newport, 21 miles, with a fork from Usk to Pontypool and over the hills to G'aerphilly, 32 miles ; a third line of road leads by Trellech and Tintem Abbey, down the Wye to Wyndcliff, and so to Chepstow, 13 miles ; a fourth by St. Weonards up the valley of the Wye to Whitchurch, and so to Boss, 10 miles ; a fifth by St. Weonards to Hereford, 18 miles ; and a sixth line of road from Mon- mouth through the Forest of Dean to Gloucester, 25 miles. Besides these there are numerous branch roads connecting most of the important villages and hamlets, which have recently been springing up in every part of the country, owing to the vast development of the mining and manufacturing interest in this county, the mineral wealth of which seems to be almost inexhaustible. Besides Iho malleable iron, tin-plate, and smelting works mentioned above, a considerable manufacturing industry is maintained by the weaving of flannel, coarse cloths, woollen stockings, and caps, for which last manufacture Monmouthshire was formerly celebrated, though it has now become almost obsolete. It was enacted in the 13th Elizabeth, c. 19,', that Monmouth caps should be worn by all persons, except a few of worship and quality, on Sabbaths and holydays, on the pain of forfeiting 10 groats for the omission, and Fuller says that in his time " thousands of people were main- tained thereby ; " but this trade was subsequently re- moved to BewdJoy, in Worcestershire. Near the town of Monmouth there are also several paper and corn mills. The county is studded with numerous gentlemen's seats, as Troy House and Wentwood Lodge of the Duke of -Beaufort, Llanvihangel Court of Lord Eodney, Pontypool House of Lord Sudeley, Abercamo and Llanover of Lord Llanover, Llanwern of Salusbury, Bart., Tredegar of Morgan, Bart., Trostrey of Flud- yer, Bart., Wynastow of Pilkington, Bart., besides many residences of private families. The Monmouth- shire hounds are kennelled at Llanfoist, and the Llangibby hounds, belonging to the Duke of Beaufort, meet at Wentwood Forest. The antiquities include important British, Roman, Welsh, and Saxon remains, the county being traversed by the two great high- ways of South Wales, the Via Julia Maritima, which follows the line of the coast from Caerwent, the ancient Venta Silurum, towards Cardiff, and the Via Julia Montana, going from Caerleon, the ancient Isca Silurum, and the metropolis of the early British Church, to Brecon. Roman remains are also found at Usk, tho ancient Bitrrium, or Bullaeum, at Abergavenny, anciently Gobanium, and at Monmouth, occupying the site of the ancient Jilestittm. Traces of Roman and British camps are also met with at Campston Hill, Chepstow, Craig-y- Saesson, Craig-y-Gaereyd, Cwrt-y-Gaer, near Caerleon, Gaer, Sudbrooke, near Portscuett and Taliurum. Ap- proaching later times, Monmouthshire boasts of the ruins of the once magnificent abbeys of Llanthony and Tintern ; also of numerous old castles, some of which are celebrated in history, as Usk Castle, where Edward IV. and Richard III. were born ; Monmouth, where Henry V. was born ; and Raglaud Castle, a moated fortress built by the Herberts and Somersets, and garrisoned by the famous Marquis of Worcester during the Parliamentary war, being the last fortress in England to surrender to parliament, and that after a long siege. There are also numerous other baronial castles, as Caerleon , Caldecot, Castell Glas, Absrgavenny, Chepstow, still partially inhabited, Cresseny, Dinham, Grosmont, Llan- iair,Llaugibby, Llanvaches, Newport, Pencoed, Pencow, and Tregreg. At Sudbrooke, near Portscuett, Harold is said to have had a palace, of which however there are no remains. For purposes of civil jurisdiction it consists of six hundreds : Abergavenny in the N.W., Caldicott in the S.E., Eagland, E., Skenircth, N.E., Usk near the middle, and Wentlooge in tho S.W. and W. ; each of these is subdivided into upper and lower, and together comprise 116 parishes, besides parts of three others, and three extra parochial liberties. It contains the county town of Monmouth, which is also a parliamentary borough and market town ; tho borough, market, and seaport town of Newport ; the borough, quarter sessions, and market town of Usk ; the market and seaport town of Chepstow; and the market towns of Abergavenny, Caerleon, Pontypool, and Tredegar, besides upwards of 166 villages or hamlets. It returns three members to parliament two for the county and one for Monmouth and its contributory boroughs. It is governed by a lord lieutenant and custos rotulorum, assisted by 47 deputy-lieutenants, a high sheriff, and about 170 magis- trates. The county is included in the home military district, and in the Oxford circuit. For ecclesiastical purposes it forms an archdeaconry in the diocese of Llandaff and province of Canterbury, except the borough of Monmouth and a small district towards the N.E., which are in the diocese of Hereford. Tho population in 1851 was 157,418, and in 1861 was 174,633, and the number of inhabited houses in 1861 was 33,077, besides 2,021 uninhabited, and 226 building. Tho general aspect of the county is diversified, some portions being hilly and even mountainous, while the valleys are luxuriantly rich, and the slopes of the hills chequered with woods and pas- tures. The geological formation of the county belongs to the carboniferous series of rocks forming part of the great South Wales coal basin, superimposed on car- boniferous limestone, which shows itself in the hills to the E. and S.E., along the Wye and near Wentwood. In the neighbourhood of Pontypool Old Red sandstone prevails, while about Usk, and at various points on the border, strips of silurian and slaty rocks crop up. The most important mineral productions are coal, which is of the variety called anthracite, and occurs in strata from 3 to 9 feet thick ; ironstone, which yields 30 per cent, of metal, and is extensively wrought both into pig