Lord Clarendon wrote a portion of his ‘History of the Great Rebellion’ while he was staying at Moulins, and James FitzJames, Duke of Berwick, Marshal and Peer of France, and a natural son of James II., was born here in 1670.
As one goes out of Moulins one notices two massive pillars marking the position of the town walls which have disappeared. The poplar-bordered road gives pretty views of the Allier on the left, and the fresh green of the roadside grass is a pleasant contrast to the
THE FIFTEENTH-CENTURY FIREPLACE IN THE HÔTEL DU GRAND CERF AT LE GRAND ANDELY. (Page 409.)
dust farther south. Picturesque timber-framed houses with dark browny-red roofs begin to abound, and the villages increase in charm. Large farmhouses with big stone barns, here and there buildings with quaint crows’ steps to the gables, and two or three windmills, are passed, all adding considerably to the charm of the scenery.
St. Pierre-le-Moutier is a delightful old place. It retains portions of its ramparts, round towers, and a gateway, made more interesting when one remembers that this was one of the towns of the Loire Valley taken by Jeanne d’Arc in 1429. The church belonged to the Cluniac priory of St. Martin d’Autun, and is a very interesting example of the style of the latter half of the twelfth century. The north doorway, with its richly sculptured tympanum showing Christ in the midst of angels, should be seen. The town contains some picturesque houses of the fifteenth century and later.
NEVERS
On approaching this town there is a fine view of its cathedral rising above the old roofs with the Loire in the foreground, and the confluence with the Allier two or three miles to the left.
All remains of the Roman town of Nevirnum, which was of so much strength that Cæsar kept his military stores there, have entirely disappeared, with the exception of a few objects in the Library of the town.