PICTON,
through which we passed, about five miles in extent, seemed to be well planned, and kept in excellent order. This castle has always been inhabited; and, having escaped the fate of all other castles in Wales, during the civil wars, it retained, till very late, much of its original external form.
Mr. Fenton’s description of this noble spot is so correct and energetic, that I shall, in justice to him, as well as to Picton, here insert it. “Picton castle owes its beauties to circumstances that wealth cannot supply, or titles confer; circumstances that age, and an unbroken line of ancestry in its possessors, have given value to, and have made venerable; an ancient structure, that nothing can so much disfigure as an attempt to modernize, and make less so;—a castle (and I believe a solitary instance) never forfeited, never deserted, never vacant; and that never knew a melancholy blank in its want of a master; from whose walls hospitality was never exiled, and whose governors might be said to have been hereditary; a castle in the midst of possessions and forests coeval with itself, and proudly looking down over a spacious domain, on woods of every after-growth, to an inland sea, bounding its property and its prospects beyond them; for such is Picton Castle.”
The ground plan occupies an oblong area, having three large projecting bastions on each side. At the east end was the grand gate, with a portcullis between two similar bastions: this, without any injury to the general aspect, has yielded to a modern entrance, as has the moat and drawbridge, to a terrace, with an open parapet: the additions at the west end are not so fortunate: they injure the appearance, but add to the comforts of the castle, as a modern residence; affording Lord Milford more ample scope for that noble hospitality which he so liberally exercises according to the usage of his ancestors.
Lord Milford possesses a fine cabinet of drawings by eminent masters, collected in Italy by Sir Erasmus Phillips, his uncle. The park is well wooded, but destitute of deer. The gardens, forcing houses, &c. &c. are very extensive, and in high order.
A beautiful walk, which passes near the old encampment, called Castle Lake, leads to Slebech, an ancient commandery of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, but neither trace nor vestige of the old commandery are now to be found. The church is ancient and respectable, but not large; it contains two figures in alabaster, believed to be of the Barlow family.
Returning again to Picton, at the extremity of the park, a good turnpike road soon conducted us to
HAVERFORDWEST,
which is considered as one of the largest towns in South Wales. It is very irregularly built, on the declivity of a hill, which is, in some parts, so very steep, that the ground-rooms frequently overlook the neighbouring roofs; yet there are some good houses. It is considered as a county of itself, and sends one member to parliament. The town was formerly fortified by a strong wall, or rampart, on the western summit; the shell of a once extensive castle is still remaining; this is now converted into a gaol.
The parade, commanding a cheerful view of the neighbouring country, and the ruins of an ancient abbey, extends for a considerable way, by the side of a hill. At the extremity of this walk stands the ruins of an ancient priory of black canons; the remains are now very inconsiderable, but we easily traced the chapel, over one end of which is an arch, still in good preservation, and beautifully enwreathed with the rich drapery of ivy.