SWANSEA.
The whole of this walk commanded a boundless view of the ocean to the West, whilst to the South the faint hues of Somersetshire coast skirted the horizon.
Swansea is a well-built sea-port town, on the river Tawe, much resorted to during the summer months. The machines for bathing are kept about half a mile from the town, under the direction of Mrs. Landey, who likewise keeps a lodging-house near the place: the charges are twenty-five shillings a week, board and lodging, and ten shillings and six-pence a week for a private parlour. The Castle is supposed to have been erected by Henry Earl of Warwick, in the reign of Henry I.: the small arches round the top of it are exactly similar to the building of Lantphey Castle, and King John’s Hall, St. David’s, Pembrokeshire. This Castle is now turned into a goal and workhouse. The Market-place is said to be covered with the lead of St. David’s Cathedral, given by Cromwell to a gentleman of Swansea.
The clay used for the Pottery, long carried on in this place, is brought from Corfe, in Dorsetshire; having been mixed with finely-ground flint, and dissolved in water, it is passed through sieves, till it has lost all its coarser particles, then exposed to heat, which evaporates the water, and leaves the clay of a consistency sufficient for working. The vessel is first rudely formed by the hand, the clay being stuck to a circular board, which has an horizontal rotation. The other operation consists in the more perfect forming of the work by various processes, and the colouring, glazing, painting, and stamping, drying and baking kilns complete the work.
OYSTERMOUTH CASTLE,
about five miles from Swansea, is finely situated on an eminence, commanding a delightful prospect of the surrounding country, and the Mumbles’ Bay. The ivy-mantled walls of this Castle are sufficiently perfect, to distinguish what the apartments were originally designed for. It formerly belonged to the lords of Gower, but is now in the possession of the Duke of Beaufort. Our curiosity being satisfied, we hastened to the