Royal Archaeological Institute in Wales: Caerphilly Castle, 1871. Caerphilly, seven miles north of Cardiff, on the hills which extend across the country from Glamorganshire to Brecknockshire, is a village, formerly a borough town, remarkable only for the ruins of its great Norman Castle...Occupying a space of thirty acres, the relics of this vast pile are more like those of a city than of a single edifice. They are a wonderful assemblage of lofty walls and massive towers. One of the most striking features of this ruin is a tower 70ft. high, leaning 11ft. out of the perpendicular, which was caused by the explosion of a mine when the Castle was besieged...The Castle must have been very strong, and had room to contain thousands of oxen and sheep for the food of the garrison. Its eastern walls presented a front of 360 ft., strongly buttressed, with a gateway in the centre, and clusters of towers at each end. The ground upon which the Castle stood was converted into several little islands by the two moats and a lake connected with the small river Nant-y-Gledyr; and the surrounding marshes added to the strength of this great fortress. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.