JOHN HICKLIN
1856

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Caernarvon is the capital of the county, and is one of the largest and best towns in North Wales. Its name is properly Caer yn Arvon, which signifies a walled town in the district opposite to Anglesea. Ar Von or Ar Mon implies opposite to Mona.

"Caernarvon (we adopt the interesting and elegant description of Mr. Roscoe,) is built on a peninsula, formed by the Menai on the west and north sides, and by the Seiont on the south. It was formerly enclosed by walls, defended by a chain of round towers, which on three sides are still nearly entire. In former times there were but two gates through which the inhabitants passed, but other openings have been more recently made to form communicatons with the suburbs, which are rapidly extending. The town-hall is over one of the ancient gates of the town.

A terrace, extending from the quay to the north end of the walls, offers a delightful promenade, and presents a variety of interesting objects around the port, which is daily rising into greater importance by receiving and dispensing the fruits of industry and commerce. This terrace, Mr. Bransby observes, possesses the powerful recommendation of being always clean, and of soon becoming dry after heavy and continued rain. From this walk to behold the sun on a calm summer evening, as he goes down "in a paradise of clouds" behind the Anglesea hills, is to witness one of the most lovely and glorious spectacles in nature. On an eminence called the Twt-hill, near the Uxbridge Arms Hotel, is a most extensive and varied panoramic view, including part of the Snowdonian range, - the isle of Anglesea, with its plains, farms, and villas, backed by the mountains of Holyhead and Parys, - the swelling Menai, - and the blue and spacious bay, with the sea stretching far beyond.

The harbour and the pier have both undergone very great improvement, and ships of considerable burthen can now come up alongside the quay. An extensive trade is carried on with Liverpool, Dublin, Bristol, Swansea, &c., besides a lucrative coastal trade, exchanging the invaluable mineral substances of this part of the Principality for timber and other articles. Slates are brought here as to the general depot from the quarries about Llanberis and Llanllyfni; and the country people of all ranks resort hither, as the best and cheapest market, from a considerable distance.

The market-house, erected by the corporation, the Uxbridge Arms Hotel, by the Marquis of Anglesea, a number of excellent inns, among which stand foremost the Goat Hotel and the Sportsman, with hot and cold baths, and a billiard-room, render the modern town as pleasant and commodious a place of residence as the most fastidious nabob, - to say nothing of hardy Welshmen and pedestrian ramblers, - could possibly desire.

Caernarvon is resorted to as a bathing place, and by invalids seeking health and amusement, for a temporary residence. There are here the great advantages of a genteel neighbourhood as well as salubrious air; and the rambler in quest of romantic scenery frequently makes this town his head quarters. Besides many pleasant walks and rides in the immediate vicinity, within the circle of a dozen miles are the Menai Straits as far as Bangor, Llanberis, Snowdon, Plas-Newydd, and Beddgelert, offering not only inducements to those in search of the picturesque, but affording a source of continued gratification to the botanist, mineralogist, and antiquary.

The parish church of Caernarvon is at Llanbeblig, and stands in its lonliness at the distance of half a mile to the south-east of the castle wall. It is a structure of great antiquity, and contains the altar-tomb of Sir William Gruffydd (a member of the Penrhyn family) and Margaret, his wife. The knight mailed in armour, and the lady in the full dress of the age, are sculptured in white marble, and lie side by side. English service is performed at a chapel of ease at Caernarvon, close to the castle; but in this venerable little place the service is conducted in Welsh. The churchyard exhibits the peculiarities which give a touching interest to some of the burying places of the Principality. Flowers of all colours, but especially snowdrops, violets, and pale primroses, display their beauty and expend their perfume on the graves of children, and maidens "that die unmarried," while branches of the box, arbutus, and laurel, with shrubs of a firm and sombre hue, mark the resting places of the more matured in this "City of the Silent."

For its ample and magnificent feudal structure, - almost terrible to the eye, - Caernarvon is indebted to the first Edward, who raised this colossal castle - as if in derision of the poor tenure of all sovereign power - near the ruins of the great Roman station. Soon after his conquest, Edward began the stupendous pile, which served less to overawe the Welsh than for a magnificent ruin and a modern wonder. The remains of Segontium furnished part of the materials, bright grey limestone, of exceeding durability, was brought from Twr Celyn, in Anglesea, and grit-stone, for the windows and arches, from Vaenol, between Caernarvon and Bangor.

Vast, irregular, and more shattered than its exterior grandeur would lead us to suppose, this giant fortress stretches far along the west of the town, its broad spreading walls being surmounted, at intervals, with octagonal towers. The extent of the courts, the gateways, and the towers, bear equal witness to those noble proportions which astonish the modern architect, as from its Eagle-turrets he commands the whole of its magnificent area, and the wide sweeping circuit of its walls.

Opposite the massive Eagle tower, in which the unfortunate Edward the Second was born, is the Queen's Gate,¹ which had two portcullises that communicated with a drawbridge across the moat. Over the embattled parapet are seen the turrets rising majestically above the solitary ruins, bounded on two sides by the water; the third bears traces of a large ditch; on the north-east side is a deep well, nearly filled up, with a round tower contigious to it, apparently the ancient dungeon. The exterior, and especially the main entrance, has an air of forlorn grandeur, blended with massy strength, which must at all times excite admiration and awe in the beholder. The area within is irregularly oblong, and was divided into an outer and inner court. The external walls of the castle, enclosing an area of great extent, are nearly as perfect as when they were built, and of considerable height and thickness.

The state apartments appear to have been spacious, commodious, and handsomely ornamented; the windows wide, and enriched with elegant tracery. The form is polygonal, though the exterior of the edifice presents a simple square. The floors and staircases are considerably injured - in many places wholly demolished. A gallery extended round the entire fortress, to serve as a means of communication in times of danger, and during a siege. It lay close to the outer walls, and was provided with narrow slips, adapted for stations, from which to annoy an enemy with arrows or other missiles as occasion might require. But its time-worn and ivy-coloured bulwarks are now fast yielding, like the interior, to the assaults of time. Some years ago, the Eagle Tower, struck by lightning, was split down several yards from the summit, giving it still more the aspect of a splendid ruin.

It was evening, as I before said, when I first caught sight of the castle. The sun's disk had sunk below the horizon, but his refracted rays still played upon that imaginary line "which parts the day and night," casting an attenuated melancholy grace over the crumbling fortress. I lingered amongst those ruins till the last vestige of light was withdrawn, except such as is bestowed by a clear blue firmament emblazoned with burning stars. As I gazed, the phantoms of history passed rapidly before my mental eye, with an order and truth like unto the facts treasured in her pages, and with a realizing illusion that converted me into an actual spectator of the scenes. From the topmost point of the Eagle Tower a prophetic voice seemed to issue, dispelling the delusion that in those days clung to the hearts of the stricken Cambrians, that their own-loved Arthur would again appear to raise up their fast-falling nation to its former glory. I saw the stern conqueror buckling on his armour, after the Easter festival, resolute to conquer or exterminate the defenders of that ancient land. I heard the wailing of that dark and stormy night of Palm Sunday, when the strong hold of Hawarden fell before his victorious sword. I tracked the line of march his countless legions took through the deep forest, reaching, in ancient times, from the confines of Cheshire to the mountains of Snowdon, leaving Flint and Rhuddlan still frowning in their perilled rear; and I looked upon the picture of that onslaught at the bridge of Moel-y-don, when an English knight was seen buffeting the waves of Menai, and alone escaped to tell the tale of national vengeance. The panorama shifted, and another pictured page discovered that gallant prince, the last of his race who held the sceptre of the Cymri, slowly retreating before his haughty foe into the mountain holds hard by, - dispirited, though not despairing, - cursed by the priest whom Edward brought to curse him, - deluded by the soothsayer, whose prophecy bore "a double sense," too fatally fulfilled in his own person, - deserted by many of his friends, and his affianced wife basely held a captive in the hands of his enemy. The scene then moved; the undaunted hero still struggled with his fate, once the sovereign of the whole land, now only lord of the five baronies of Snowdon, - goaded by the insults of his mean conqueror, - maddened into open war, - betrayed by his base confederate lords, - and perishing alone and defenceless in the solitary recesses of a wood. Such was the strange eventful story; and that castle which marked the triumph of the conqueror, and the subjection of the people - which heard the infant cries of the first English prince of this cheated land - which opened wide at midnight its gates to troops of warrior-knights belonging to an alien country - which rung again and again with the rude revelry of that barbarous age, when the pageant and tournament of Nefyn was ended, - and which in the days of its strength passed into the hands of foes, and friends and fratricides, - that castle in its gaunt ruins, yet remained as the monument of these records, and the tomb in which past ages silently slept."

At the annual meeting of the Cambrian Archaeological Association, held at Caernarvon in September 1848, a good deal of the popular romance attaching to this ancient castle was destroyed by the Rev. C. H. Hartshorne, M. A. of Cogenhoe, Northamptonshire, who read a paper upon the subject, which was thus reported in the Carnarvon Herald:-

"After the execution of Prince David, Edward determined to conquer Wales. Conway Castle preceded that of Carnarvon in its commencement. Block plans of several Welsh castles were produced to illustrate the dates of their erection; and a multiplicity of public records were referred to in proof of the points to be substantiated. It was probable that the Roman station enabled Edward to commence his castle, and furnished materials to complete it. Its constable was mayor of the town. It was impossible to state when the castle was begun; but it occupied many years, and was not completed in one year, as had been stated. Its immensity, and the circumstances under which it was built, adequately prove this. Its erection occupied two reigns. This would be shown by documents, as also would be the dates in which certain portions were erected. 1285 and 1286 were proved to be years in which lead, &c., were brought from Criccieth to the castle for building it. Carats of lead, apparently 1 cwt. each, were referred to in order to show the quota of each borough towards the task-work, and sums of money were specified, as also the kinds of material supplied. £3036 in the first year of his reign were exacted for task-work on the castle. £5000 was spent in the eleventh year of his reign on Conway Castle. Criccieth Castle was repaired at the same time. From the thirteenth year to the eighteenth the work went on at Carnarvon. By the second chamberlain of the castle, the wall of the castle was built in the year 1286, when a new constable of the castle was appointed. On August 4th, in the fourteenth year, distinct mention is made of charges for the progress of the works. William de Britain was the artilleryman or overlooker, probably of the war engines. In the years 1284 and 1285 also great progress was made. £122,913 was exacted by Edward to fight against Llywelyn, a sum now equal to £1,800,000. In 1284, on April 1st, Edward I. entered the town, and on the 25th of the same month his son was born, but whether in the castle or not cannot be shown; but it can be shown that the birth did not take place in the room to which tradition had attached the fact. The learned gentleman traced the progress of Edward from month to month, and proved all his points by direct or indirect reference to public records. In the nineteenth and twenty-first years of Edward's reign but little was contributed towards Carnarvon Castle; but still some money tribute for that purpose was levied on the Welsh. The castle was taken by the insurgent Welsh, under Madoc, a legitimate son of David, who soon made it unfit for use by the king, as was subsequently shown by a writ issued to the mayor of Chester to send men to repair Carnarvon Castle. Want of money delayed the completion of the walls until the 26th of February, in some period between the twenty-third and twenty-fifth years of the reign of Edward. That part of the wall next the town was distinctly proved to be then built by a bill of charges for its erection. Dearth of funds seems to have been the cause of every delay in the rebuilding. Four hundred and twenty-nine men were employed on the works between June and July, which shows how heavy the expense must have been, and what progress must have been made. Edward did not live to see its completion. After his demise large sums were ordered by his successor to be levied for the progress of the works. Numerous instances of this were cited. In 1295 the castle of Beaumaris was commenced, and a series of records proved that the works at Carnarvon were proceeding in concurrence, although they proved that there was not adequate funds for an equal advance in both. Thomas de Estall was chamberlain of the castle at the death of Edward, and his accounts show that the work was then going on with some rapidity. It was, however, very far from being complete, although in a great state of advancement. The minister's accounts, only a few of which exist, were referred to to prove the mode in which the works were subsequently advanced. Sunday, October 10th, 1316, to May, 1st, 1317, is a period of time during which records exist of the number of men employed, the rate of wages paid, and the amount of work done. The tradition of the birth of Edward II. in a certain chamber has become a point of historical belief, but records in the national archives prove that the Eagle Tower itself was not finished in the reign of the first Edward, and not until the second Edward was thirty years old, and in the tenth year of his reign. The entries on the record were recited to prove this startling fact; and their evidence seemed most conclusive. The crown found the iron; it appearing that the king had a large supply of this valuable metal. (A gyve was produced as found in the castle during this day.) In March. 1317, an entry of charge is made for erecting the eagle on the Eagle Tower; and all the previous entries of wood, iron, work, and material (including coal, lime, a boat, &c.), evince that the tower was not being repaired, but actually built for the first time. The low charges are of the most striking kind. Mr. Hartshorne went on to show the use made of every portion of the building, and showed that the effigy of the king was put up in front, in the last week of April, 1320, and the thirteenth year of Edward II.; and the building was perfectly finished in 1322, having lasted from 1284, a preiod of thirty-eight years. In 1343, a writ was issued to inquire into the state of the Welsh castles, and the jury estimated the damages to each. In the Beaumaris estimates, mention was made of 40 lbs. of gunpowder. This was two years before the battle of Cressy. Specimens of guns found in Carnarvon Castle were shown. £295 10s. was the estimate of the repairs in the castle and its munition."

Caernarvon castle has recently undergone considerable repairs, under the authority of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests. The judgement and taste displayed in these repairs by the architect, Mr. Salvin, of London, are worthy of all praise.

A rail-road has lately been formed from Llanllyfni to Caernarvon, a distance of more than nine miles, for the purpose of conveying the copper ore and slates to the quay.

A most interesting part of the Menai Straits is connected with Caernarvon. Tourists may enjoy boating in perfection, either on the Tal-y-Foel ferry, the new ferry at Barris, to which a good road has recently been made, through the lands of the Marquis of Anglesea, by his free permission; or to Aber-mania, at the mouth or gap of the straits, and then to Llanddwyn, where are the remains of an old abbey. On the opposite side the gap to Aber-mania is St. David's Fort, a marine residence of Lord Newborough, well worth a visit, and where the domestics show the greatest civility. A few miles to the nothward, on the east coast of Caernarvon Bay, is Dinas Dinlle, an old Roman station of artificial formation.

Caernarvon is remarkable for having been the first town in the Principality that enjoyed the privilege of a royal charter, which was granted by Edward the First. The government of the place was vested in a mayor (who is always constable of the castle), two bailiffs, a recorder, burgesses, &c. before the passing of the municipal reform act; now it is under the provisions of that act. In conjunction with the boroughs of Conway, Cricaieth, Nevin, Pwllheli, and Bangor, Caernarvon returns a member to parliament. The member in the present parliament is W. B. Hughes, Esq.

There are two banks, viz. Messrs. Williams & Co. commonly known as the old bank, and which is in connection with the banks of the same firm at Chester and Bangor; and a branch of the North and South Wales bank. Coaches pass several times each day between this place and Bangor, and the mail leaves every morning for Pwllheli, through Clynog; and for Barmouth, through Beddgelert, Tremadoc, Tan-y-bwlch, and Harlech.

It is more than probable that the town of Caernarvon had its origin in the Roman city of Segontium, about half a mile distant, and that it is not, as many have supposed, indebted for its name to Edward the First; for, the fort in Arvon, or in the hundred opposite to Anglesea, as the name indicates, would apply with equal propriety to the ancient city as to this more modern fortress. The town, however, there is no doubt, was the creation of Edward, and it was most probably formed from the ruins of the old station. The site of the ancient city of Segontium lies about half a mile south of Caernarvon, the ancient Roman station mentioned in the Itinerary of Antonius. This appears to have been the principal station that the Romans had in North Wales, all the rest being only subordinate stations. It received its name from the river Seiont, which rises in the lower lake of Llanberis, passes under the walls, and discharges itself into the Menai near Caernarvon castle. Its form was an oblong; and it apears originally to have occupied about six acres of ground. Not far hence was the fort which belonged to it; this was also of an oblong figure, and stood upon about an acre of ground. The walls are at prsent about eleven feet high, and six in thickness, and at each corner there has formerly been a tower. A chapel, said to be founded by Helen, daughter of Octavius, Duke of Cornwall, and a well which bears her name, are amongst the ruins still pointed out. The chapel was standing little more than a century ago. The old Roman road from the station of Dinas Dinorwic, in Llanddeiniolen, to Dinas Dinlle, on the shore of Caernarvon bay, lay through Caernarvon. Both stations are worth the attention of the antiquary.

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John Hicklin - Excursions in North Wales - Guide to the Tourist Through that Romantic Country. London. 1856

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