The antiquities of England and Wales . p, and that famous and far-feen caftle, built there bythe laft Ranulph, the famous earl of Chefter ; and, withoutqueftion, was a place, when fuch ftrong holds were in requeft,of admirable and impregnable ftrength. It is mounted upon thetop of a very fteep hill of ftone, the chief tower whereof, in thevery fumitty of it, had a draw-well of an incredible depth toferve it with water, I have meafured it, and, notwithstandingthat by the great number of ftones which from the ruinatedwalls thofe that repair thither do caft in, it is fuppofed the wellin the outwa
The antiquities of England and Wales . p, and that famous and far-feen caftle, built there bythe laft Ranulph, the famous earl of Chefter ; and, withoutqueftion, was a place, when fuch ftrong holds were in requeft,of admirable and impregnable ftrength. It is mounted upon thetop of a very fteep hill of ftone, the chief tower whereof, in thevery fumitty of it, had a draw-well of an incredible depth toferve it with water, I have meafured it, and, notwithstandingthat by the great number of ftones which from the ruinatedwalls thofe that repair thither do caft in, it is fuppofed the wellin the outward to be half ftopped up j yet it is of true meafureninety-one yards deep, and the other above eighty yards deep byM. S. and from that tower, a circular wall of a large compafs,containing a fine plat of ground, where, in the circuit of it, andin the middeft of that, another well, which yet by the long de-fcent of a ftone before it fall down to the water, when you (hallhear the fall of it of a huge depth; and the foot of the whole wall. CHESHIRE. 29 wall {landing fo deep on every fide, that faving one way up tothe gates of the caftle towards the eaft, and thofe very fair and{lately, men can hardly find a footing to ftand on any part ofthe faid hill 5 concerning which, though I have no reafon to fixmy belief upon any, either idle prophecies, as they call them,or vain predictions of vulgar report; yet, neither will I be fofcrupulous as not to make mention of the common word there-abouts ufed, that Beefton caftle fhall fave all England on a day;nor fo envious as not to take notice of old Lelands bold con-jecture of the future exalting of the head of it in time to come;whereof I only fay this, that I wifh every man to look uponwhat grounds he gives credit to any old dreams. To the placeI wifh all good, and to the name of Beefton I could alfo wifh acontinuance as the caftle ftands, being now in the poffelTion ofan ancient knight, Sir Hugh Beefton, of much refpectj but now,through wan
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