The Church is of Norman origin, with a tower rebuilt in recent years.
CAERLEON
'For Arthur on the Whitsuntide before
Held court at old Caerleon upon Usk.'
Idylls of the King.
The name of Caerleon brings vivid recollections to the mind of the Round Table and King Arthur, but its history commenced before the sixth century, when the great Pendragon flourished. The name Caerleon means 'The Camp of the Legion,' the Roman Isca Silurum, the capital city of the province of Britannia Secunda. After the Roman occupation it became a seat of learning. Remains of villas, Roman walls, and other traces of the conquerors of the world, abound, and the local museum is rich in treasures—chiefly of that period, but by no means confined to it. The building is upon the farther side of the churchyard. (There is no fixed charge, but a box for contributions. Key at the schoolhouse opposite.) The church is Early English, with traces of Norman work in it. To the right of the schoolhouse a lane leads for about a hundred yards to a field on the left, opposite a racecourse, where the amphitheatre, 220 feet by 190 feet, may be seen. Excavations have revealed the stone seats surrounding this concave site, known locally as 'King Arthur's Round Table.' In the main street of the sleepy little town some old timbered houses are found, and of the once famous castle nothing now remains except a small tower, which once protected the bridge over the river, behind the Hanbury Arms Inn. The few houses upon the other bank of the Usk are known as 'Ultra Pontem,' a most remarkable instance of persistence and survival. It is difficult when walking through the streets of Caerleon to realize that London, York, and this little place were once the three chief cities of Britain.
NEWPORT
Newport is an example of rapid growth from a small market town into a flourishing port, with extensive docks, wharves, and jetties. It, however, may claim a high antiquity, for it formed a post during the Roman period.
The Castle.—This was at one time an extensive building, and the river face of it is still of impressive proportions. For many years the ruin was occupied by a brewery, but the town has lately gained possession of the sadly-diminished fortress. A deep moat, filled at high tide, defended the walls of the bailey on the north, west, and south sides, but all this has vanished, leaving only the eastern side, with three imposing towers, washed by the muddy waters of the Usk. The Norman Fitzharon, who conquered Glamorgan, built a castle at Newport towards the close of the eleventh century; but the existing structure is three centuries later, and was, to some extent, remodelled in the fifteenth century. The town was protected by a wall as late as Leland's time, and he speaks of three gates. One of these was close to the inn, called the West Gate to this day. Conspicuous in the High Street is the house of the murringer, a person whose duties were in connection with the guarding of the wall.
The Church of St. Woollos has been restored, but preserves many of its Norman features, and contains interesting memorials, some of them of considerable antiquity. A remarkable feature is the separation of the tower from the church by a small building, the Chapel of St. Mary, believed by some ecclesiologists to be the primitive church founded c. 550, and, if so, the most ancient building still used for Christian worship in the United Kingdom. The two structures are divided by a good Norman arch, the columns of which appear to be of Roman origin, and were possibly brought from Caerleon.