The

the ward, the Norman work is distinctly seen. wall was in process of being rebuilt, and its imperfect junction with the new work is apparent. Of this later date is a curious large rectangular building, on the wall, of bold projection, and divided by a cross-wall into an eastern and a western chamber. It was of two floors, and below them a basement which has been vaulted over and fitted with exterior steps and doorways in the Perpendicular period. The building itself is early and excellent Decorated, as shewn especially by the form and detail of a pair of two-light windows. From this tower the curtain, of the same date, extends to the great gatehouse which is to the south-east. This is much broken. It is rectangular, with a portal-vault below and two chambers above; one for the working of the outer, and one for that of the inner portcullis. The rib of the central portal remains, with a drop-arch and a square portcullis groove. groove. In the inner chamber is seen part of a large fireplace with a good Decorated hood. Only one portal-arch remains, but from its position it is pretty clear that there were three. The archway is much choked with rubbish. From the great gate-house the curtain curves sharply towards the north, enclosing the east face of the ward. Upon it is a bold half-round tower, of which the lower part, well seen from the ditch, and probably solid, is very perfect. It rises only to the level of the ward. Thence the curtain turns the northeast corner of the ward to the remains of a polygonal tower, or more probably a square tower with the angles boldly chamfered; and from this it ascended the slope so as to join the inner ward at its north-east angle, where the traces have been mentioned of a large and probably round tower; and thus is completed the circuit of the outer ward.

The middle ward is less easily traced. It seems to have been concentric with the outer ward; like it, appended to the south-east face of the inner ward, but of much smaller area, and much of that area occupied by the steep hill-side.

The most considerable remains of its wall are towards

the south-east, and it probably had, on this side, a ditch of its own. The hall and other of the domestic buildings seem to have stood here, on the level part, judging from the very rude outline of the foundations.

Besides these defences, along the east front of the works of the outer ward is a second ditch, carried across the ridge, here very low. Between the two ditches is a platform of no great breadth, the rear of which forms the counterscarp of the outer ward ditch, while the front is scarped into three solid, half-round bastions of earth, the outline of which is followed by the counterscarp of the outer ditch. The figure of this earthwork and the freshness of the cutting shew that the whole is a late addition, probably by the latter Mortimers, to cover the foot of the outer wall, and, no doubt, strongly palisaded. Again, in advance about a hundred yards on this front, and lower down the hill, a deep ditch has been cut across the ridge, and its contents thrown inwards as a high and steep bank. Again, in advance of this line of defence, the hill, for sixty or seventy yards, is scarred with other earthworks of an uncertain and subordinate character and purpose, but evidently old.

A good deal of masonry remains standing in various parts of the Castle area, and, no doubt, the main foundations of the whole fortress could, with a little labour, be exposed. Although most of this masonry is of Decorated date, there is evidence that a good deal of it is built upon the Norman outlines; and probably, if search were made, a good deal of buried Norman work would be exposed; and it would be shewn, as indeed it now is, to some extent, that the Norman castle covered pretty much the area of the present works.

With the exception of the Norman tower and wall above mentioned, the masonry above ground seems of Decorated date and of excellent character. Enough remains to shew, that with the slight exceptions already mentioned, the whole castle was rebuilt in the Decorated period in the earlier part of the fourteenth century. The work is of a very substantial character, and the appearance of the castle when complete, with its large

enceinte, deep ditches, and lofty inner ward and keep, must have been grand. The main approach lay from the east. The road branched off from the Watling Street and was carried along the south side of the ridge, between the high ground and the brook, on a sort of shelf commanded by the works along the ridge.

It is evident that the earliest fortress was confined to the mound and the small area immediately attached to it, but that the defences of the outer area were speedily added to provide space for flocks, herds, and herdsmen, and a sufficient garrison. The defences, in so thickly wooded a country, would probably be of timber.

Whether the earliest Norman Lord erected works in masonry is doubtful; probably not. Probably these were added by his successor at the end of the eleventh or early in the twelfth century. So protected it must have been very nearly impregnable. The walls of the keep and inner ward were quite out of the reach of any catapult, ram, or temporary wooden tower, owing to the steepness of the ground outside. Probably also the wet character of the low ground to the north and south would effectually cover those fronts, as the ravine would the west front. To the east the ground was firm and the country around open, but here the artificer's defences were multiplied.

The parish church was no doubt built by the Mortimers, though it contains no record of them either in tombs, arms, or inscriptions. It is of large size, and much of the north wall of the nave at its west end is of herringbone masonry, and an unusually extensive example of it. The opposite or south wall, though faced inside and out with modern plaster, exhibits, high up, a Norman loop, and is evidently of the same, rather early Norman date. It is curious that a rural church of the Norman period should have been laid out with walls so high and a span so considerable. Possibly this was intended for the seat of the religious house which Ralph, the first Mortimer, founded before his death, and which was known as Wigmore Abbey. G. T. C.

110

THE MONUMENT OF KING PABO AT LLANBABO CHURCH, ANGLESEY.

THE little Church of Llanbabo is situate about two and a half miles distant, south-west of the Rhos Goch railway station on the Anglesey Central Railway from Gaerwen Junction to Amlwch. In the fields by the sides of the road are two meini hirion, or sepulchral pillar stones. One of these is three feet eight inches in height, one foot wide, and four inches and a half thick. The other is six feet five inches in height, one foot thick, two feet nine inches in width at the base, and seven inches wide at the top, and very irregular in shape. These sepulchral memorial stones abound in Anglesey, many are noticed in the Ordnance map, many are not. Having passed these we reach the Church of Llanbabo. This is a lowly and unpretending structure of one pace only, without external division between chancel and nave. The roof is divided by principals into five bays. At the west end is a primitive rude bell-cot for one bell. The church is a structure of the fourteenth century, built evidently on the site of a more ancient church, indications of which may be observed in Norman mouldings, and sculptured heads embedded in the wall over the south door. In the north wall of the chancel is a low side window, formerly used by the friars who traversed the country for "utter confession." The east window is late Decorated, with flowing tracery in the head, and a hood moulding over. The font is rude, plain, and circular, on a low base, and is only six inches in depth.

Set upright against the south wall of the nave, near the south door, is the sepulchral effigy, partly incised and partly in very low and flat relief, of a king. The stone on which this effigy appears is five feet ten inches in length, two feet six inches in width, and six inches

in thickness. It is of a slaty or schistous kind. The head of the effigy is crowned with a simple circlet, surmounted by three fleurs-de-lis, the hair of the head is wavy, and the chin bearded. In the left hand a sceptre is held. The regal habiliments consist of a tunic worked in numerous parallel folds, belted round the waist, the end of the belt hanging down in front to the feet. The tunic has pocket-hole openings at the side. Over the tunic is worn the regal pallium or mantle. The neck is bare. The head appears within an ogee-shaped arch foliated. The inscription, in Longobardic letters, is imperfect.

This monument is commemorative of an ancient British Prince, Pabo Post Prydain, who is said to have flourished in the middle of the fifth century. An account of its discovery appears in the second volume of the Cambrian Register, as follows, in a letter from Mr. Lewis Morris to Mr. Carte, in which the former writes:-"There was an ancient tradition in the parish of Llanbabo, in Anglesey, that Pabo with his son and daughter were buried in that churchyard, opposite to certain faces that were carved in the wall, and to be seen at this day. In King Charles the Second's time or thereabouts (as I was informed) the sexton happening to dig a grave against one of the carved faces, at about six or seven feet deep, found a flat grave-stone, one corner of which he picked and demolished a few letters, before he knew what it was; the stone was then removed into the quire, where it hath remained ever since, and of which I have a copy among my papers. It hath on it the figure of a man in long robes, with a coronet on his head and a sceptre in his hand, with a long beard and a Latin inscription neatly cut basso-relievo-wise on one edge of the stone in these very letters that you call Saxon, Hic Jacet Pabo, etc. I copied it with my own hands, but I have not the inscription by me, I do not remember it at all."

Of the inscription, now much defaced, the words Post Pryd are most visible. From the absence of the