CARNARVON TRADERS

The Repository of all Things Historical for the Ancient Welsh Town of Carnarvon

  Castle Square, Carnarvon. Published by Williams & Hughes, Bridge Steet, 1850


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WARD LOCK
1937


Access:
By Rail, L.M.S. via Chester and Bangor; or by Great Western Railway via Portmadoc to Afon Wen, and thence by L. M. S.
By Road from Chester via Holywell, Rhuddlan, Colwyn Bay, Conway and Bangor (70m.). From Shrewsbury via Llangollen, Corwen, Bettws-y-Coed, Capel Curig and Llanberis (90m.). See Motoring section of this guide.

Banks:
Lloyds, Midland, National Provincial, Barclays.

Bathing:
Open-air sea-water baths, reached by crossing the Swing Bridge and walking along the shore path below Coed Helen. Hot and Cold baths in Library building, Bangor Street.

Distances (By Road):
Bangor 8½ miles; Beddgelert 13; Bettws-y-Coed 23½; Capel Curig 18; Chester 70; Llanberis 7½; Llandudno 27; Pen-y-Gwryd 14; Snowdon Ranger 7½.

Early Closing Day:
Thursday.

Ferry:
There are several passages each way daily between Caernarvon and Tal-y-Voel, in Anglesey. See current time-table. The ferry is near St. Mary's Church.

Fishing:
Good sport, chiefly with trout and salmon, in the Rivers Seiont (½ mile from the station), Gwyrfai and Llyfni, also in Lakes Cwellyn, Gadar, Nantlle and Llanberis Lake (excellent char). An Anglers Association ticket must be obtained, also a licence, for trout and salmon, 21s. Tickets and licence can be obtained on inquiry at the Ship and Castle hotel. Boats and tackle may be hired for fishing in the Strait - cod, conger, flatfish, bass, mackerel, whiting.

Golf Course:
(9 holes), reached by crossing Swing Bridge. Day 2s.; week, 7s. 6d.; month, 15s. The club-house overlooks the Menai Strait.

Hotels:
Prince of Wales: Bed & Breakfast - 7/6; Luncheon - 2/6; Tea - 1/6; Dinner - 4/-; Attendance - nil; Garage - 1/-. Boarding Terms: from 73/6 per week; 22/- per week-end.
Royal. Castle. Mona.

Library:
(Free). - Bangor Street.

Motor Park:
On the Quay between the Castle and the river.

Motor Routes:
The Castle Square is the meeting-place of the roads at Caernarvon, and just below the Square and the Castle is the Motor Park. The Bangor road comes to the Square via Bridge Street and the Railway Station. Pool Street serves the road to Llanberis, to Beddgelert, and to Pwllheli; the Llanberis road turning off on the left at the first fork: the Beddgelert road on the left at the second fork, while Newborough Street, the right-hand road at that fork, is the road to Nevin and Pwllheli.

Motor Services:
To Bangor etc.; to Llanberis; to Beddgelert; to Pwllheli and several local services to outlying villages.

Newspapers:
North Wales Observer and Express, Caernarvon and Denbigh Herald.

Places of Worship:
Parish Church, "Llanbeblig"; St. Mary's, Church Street; Christ Church, North Road; and St. David's, Twt Hill.
Roman Catholic, (St. Helen's), Twt Hill.
Beulah, Moriah, Siloh, and Engedi Calvinistic Methodist, Pendref and Salem Congregational; Ebenezer, Caersalem Baptist; Castle Street English Methodist and Castle Square English Presbyterian.

Population:
(1931) - 8,469.

Post Office:
Castle Square.

CAERNARVON (Caer-ar-Fon, "the fortress opposite Anglesey") stands just within the western entrance to the Menai Strait, at the mouth of the river Seiont. It is the ancient "metropolis of the hills" - the chief town in that mountainous stronghold known as Eryri, and the best view of the town (that from the path leading to the Baths) still shows the stout little fortress backed by the wild and rugged giants of Snowdonia. Caernarvon is the modern representative of the British fortress Caer Seiont, and of the Roman military station, Segontium, and in position, beauty and historic associations there are few towns, if any, in Wales to compare with it.

Of the thousands of persons who annually visit Caernarvon, the greater number are attracted by the Castle, but the town is an excellent centre for excursions by land or sea, and especially for tours through Snowdonia. Sea and river fishing, bathing, boating, golf, etc., can be enjoyed.

It is half a mile from the railway station to Castle Square, very busy with the coming and going of motors of all kinds. The entrance to the Motor Park is by the steep lane beside the Castle. The Square is an important motor-bus terminus, and a stranger might be pardoned for supposing momentarily that the bronze statue of Mr. Lloyd George was raising its arm in despair at the risks run by pedestrians. The statue was, however, erected for quite another purpose, being unveiled in 1921 by Mr. W. M. Hughes, then Premier of Australia. The statue is the work of Sir W. Goscombe John, R. A.

CAERNARVON CASTLE:

Admission: Sixpence; children 3d.; parties over 20, 3d. each.
Open: 10-8 or dusk, Sundays from 12 noon to 6 or dusk if earlier.
Entrance: by King's Gate, on north side.

With the exception of that at Alnwick, in Northumberland, Caernarvon Castle is "the finest in Great Britain." Dr. Johnson, who visited it in 1774, observed in his diary: "The Castle is an edifice of stupendous magnitude and strength. To survey this place would take much time - I did not think there had been such buildings; it surpassed my ideas."

In 1907 the shell of the structure was repaired, King Edward VII taking great interest in the work, and in 1911 the walls were further restored and strengthened.

The walls enclose an area of about 3 acres, and are from 7 to 9 feet thick. The erection of the fortress was begun by Edward I in 1283, and completed by his son. It was twice unsuccessfully beseiged by Owen Glendower. During the Civil War it was garrisoned for the King, and after changing hands more than once, was finally captured by the forces of the Parliament in 1646. In 1660 a warrant was issued for its demolition, but the order was never executed. The Castle was the scene, on July 13, 1911, of the historic Investiture of the Prince of Wales.

Among the prisoners immured in the Castle was William Prynne, one of the most notorious of the Roundheads. For an attack upon Archbishop Laud the Star Chamber fined him £5,000 and sentenced him to lose the remainder of his ears, to be branded in the cheeks and to be imprisoned in Caernarvon Castle for life.

The entrance is at the King's Gate, beneath a beautiful and lofty archway, over which is a statue of Edward I or Edward II. In front of the gateway are two Spanish guns. On each side of the archway are portcullis grooves. In the towers flanking the gateway are the guard-rooms and other apartments, while over the archway are an oratory and a small room used in raising and lowering the drawbridge. The interior of the Castle separates itself into the Inner and Outer Bailies, on our right and left respectively as we step clear of the entrance gate. Beautifully kept lawns are now spread where formerly there were halls and other apartments, but the scrupulous trimness of the whole makes it, at first, difficult to realise that this is a ruin and that its last occupants departed centuries ago - a difficulty that is not lessened by the modern flooring and sconces in the Eagle Tower.

Turning to the right, we have before us the remains of the Kitchen - fireplaces over which huge cauldrons rested, water-gullies and so on. The adjacent steps enable us to explore the interior of the Well Tower, and then we pass to the lofty Eagle Tower, at the western corner of the Castle. Its name is reputed to have been derived from the figure of an eagle, said by some to have been brought from the ruins of the neighbouring Roman station of Segontium; but an eagle was one of Edward's crests, and one of the weather-worn stone ornaments crowning the battlements is said to have represented an eagle: the others portrayed the helmeted heads of warriors. This majestic tower rises to the height of 124 feet, and has three fine turrets. Access to the summit is gained by 158 stone steps. By following the narrow passage running round the tower wall at the first-floor level we come to the dark recess known as the Queen's Oratory. Proceeding along the corridor, we reach a small dark room, measuring 12 feet by 8 feet, in which Edward II is said to have been born, although archaeologists assert that the tower was not built until long afterwards. The window has been filled with coloured glass exhibiting the Prince of Wales's feathers.

By keeping to the right on leaving Eagle Tower, we come to the Queen's Tower, now used by local Freemasons. A door close to the curtain-wall gives access to a passage that leads to a corridor in the thickness of the wall. The windows opened into the Banqueting Hall, which was 100 feet long, 45 feet broad, and about 50 feet high. Nothing remains but the foundations of the outer walls. The corridor leads to the Chamberlain's Tower. Coming into the courtyard, and re-entering the Chamberlain's Tower by another door, we reach the Black Tower, which contains the smallest rooms in the castle, and was probably the prison. From this tower we go to the entrance on the east side, called Queen Eleanor's Gate, because that Queen is said to have entered the castle by it. Tradition also says it was here that the infant Prince (Edward II) was presented to the people.

From the Queen's Gate we come to a beautiful turret which commanded a hillock that formerly occupied the site of the Castle Square. The name of the neighbouring tower at the angle is unknown. From this tower a guard-room extended to the next tower, which contains large cellars and three good stories, and was probably the Granary Tower. Within it is a curious arch above a deep well, which was probably a grain store. Guard-rooms were situated between the Granary Tower and the King's Gate.

THE WALLS,

which formerly enclosed the whole town, are now around only a small portion of it. They had originally two principal gates; others were added as convenience required. The circuit of the walls can conveniently be begun by turning to the right on leaving the Castle, and again to the right on reaching the quay. In this way we are led past the river front of the fortress, and beyond the Eagle Tower reach a promenade running at the foot of the western wall, the towers along which house various institutions.

The Town Church, or St. Mary's, at the north-western angle, was formerly the garrison chapel. Until about 1850 the Corporation bore the expense of maintaining it. The windows which face outward are, of course, modern, being in the town wall. The presentation of the east window by the Caernarvonshire militia, when disbanded in 1907, led to the thorough and reverent restoration of the Church in 1910, but it still presents an appearance of rather pathetic bareness.

From the Church, the wall begins its eastward course. Its northern portion crosses High Street, at the top of which is the East Gate, surmounted by the Guildhall.

TWT HILL,

a rocky eminence overlooking the town, is an excellent viewpoint. By the side of the lane is an immense Eisteddfod Pavillion, capable of seating 8,000 persons. The building, of corrugated iron, is frankly hideous; but English poets of reputation, whose sales, nevertheless, are in the hundreds only, will see something awe-inspiring in the seating provision made for the paying admirers of Welsh bards.

THE ROMAN CITY OF SEGONTIUM

was situated south-east of the present Castle Square. A portion of its wall stands at right angles to South Road. Archaeologists may well find it worth while to go along Segontium Terrace, to the right of the Post Office, the latter part a prosaic passage between stone walls. The path ends at the main road, and facing one, on the opposite side, is the end of the wall, showing through the modern wall rising above it. Nealry all the old wall is covered with ivy. Recent excavations on the site of the city have yielded many interesting "finds."

Segontium is said to have been the birthplace of Constantine the Great, and of his mother, the Princess Helena. From her brother Publicus or Peblig the Parish Church of Caernarvon derives its name of Llanbeblig, Peblig's Church. This ancient edifice stands amid quiet fields half a mile from the Castle Square, from which it can be reached by way of Pool Street, at the north-east angle, or by turning to the left at the remnant of the wall described above, then taking the first turn on the right, and turning to the right again on reaching the main thoroughfare. Much of the building is older than the fourteenth century. It has a beautiful oak roof, a holy water stoup, and a fine altar-tomb of the sixteenth century. This commemorates a son of Sir William Griffith, who was with Henry VIII at the siege of Boulogne. The tower is remarkable for its stepped battlements, a feature rarely seen except in Ireland. During the partial restoration of the Church a few years ago there was discovered a grave supposed to be that of Constantine Chlorus, father of Constantine the Great. Here, too, it is said, that Emperor was buried, and hence, by order of Edward I, his remains were removed to the "new church" which the English monarch was building within the walls of the town.

The Aber Swing Bridge (toll, ½d.; motor-cars, 6d. return; motor-cycles, 3d. return), at the mouth of the river, gives access to the open-air baths and two of the most pleasant walks in the neighbourhood of Caernarvon. By turning to the right after crossing the bridge, the path lies along the shore of the Menai Strait. At the end of rather more than a mile there is the disused church of Llanfaglan, a very small and ancient edifice, with Roman bricks in its walls.


Ward Lock & Co. - Rhyl & North Wales Illustrated Guide Book (11th. Edition). Ward Lock & Co. London. 1937.

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