NEWGIN BRIDGE,
where we understood we should meet with every thing comfortable; but, to our disappointment, we found a most miserable, dirty pot-house, destitute of even the common comforts of life. I recollected Shenstone’s complimentary lines on an inn, but could not apply them on the present occasion:
“Whoe’er has travell’d life’s dull round,
Where’er his stages may have been,
May sigh to think that he has found
The warmest welcome at an inn.” [82b]
The road from Haverford to Newgin we found very uninteresting; and the shell of
ROACH CASTLE
did not detain us long. It stands on a rocky eminence, now completely in ruins, with only one tower remaining. “Roach Castle (says Leland) in Rouseland, to the right of the road to St. David’s, shews a round and some double out-works, visible at a great distance. It belonged to the Lords Ferrars, and old Langeville, Knt. of Bucks.”
In descending the hill to Newgin, the dark lowering rocks, which form that fine bay, called St. Bride’s, exhibited a grand prospect. In the centre of this bay is situated Newgin, bounded on the south by the island of Skomar, and on the north by Ramsay. The fields adjacent to this place have been frequently inundated by extraordinary overflowings of the sea: at the reflux of the tide, the sands admit of most excellent walking.
The saunter from hence to the city of