C A E 



C A E 



vallum. The ruins of feveral caftles are ftlll (landing in dif- 

 ferent parts of the county. Malkin's " Scenery, Antiqui- 

 ties, and Biography of South Wales," 4to. 1804. Evans's 

 «' Tour tlirough South Wales," 8vo. 1804. Barber's 

 " Tour tliroughout South Wales," Svo. 1803. 



CAERNARVON, the principal town of Caernarvon- 

 (hire, is juftly the boidl of North Wales, for its fituation, 

 buildings, harbour, &c. ; but above all, for the grandeur 

 of its once magnificent caftle. It is fituated on the eaftern 

 bank of the river Mcnai, the ftrait that divides the ifle of 

 Anglefea from the otiier parts of Wales. This was tlie an- 

 cient Segonthim, mentioned by Antoninus ; it was a Roman 

 ftation in the time of Conllantine ; and Matthew Paris fays, 

 the body of Conftantinus, the father of that emperor, was 

 found buried here, A. D. J 283. The fite of the old city ii 

 about a mile diftant, by the road to which from Pwllheli it 

 is interfcfted. The remains of a Roman road are (liU vifible 

 from this place to Dinorwig. It lies on the eallern banks 

 of the Seiont. Some remains of the walls are ilill to be 

 fcen, the cement of which appears as hard as the ftone it- 

 felf. A fingle ftone remains here, with thefe letters S. V. C. 

 probably for Segontium Urbs Conllantini ; Plelen, or her 

 hulband Conllantme, having built it. It was defended by 

 a fort, erefted on the lleep weftern bank of the Seiont, 

 where it forms a curve, about four hundred yards from the 

 prefent town. The walls are about twelve feet high, and 

 about eighty yards fquare, with circular parallel holes run- 

 ning the whole length. Where the facings are dilapidated, 

 the pecuharity of Roman mafonry is eafily difcoverable. 

 This town, alter the departure of the Romans from the 

 ifland, was occupied by the Britons, and by them denomi- 

 nated Cacr-ar-fon, i. e. a ftrong hold oppofite Mona, which 

 ■with the iafertion of n for harmony, made Caernarfon. 

 Gyraldus mentions it as a confiderable place in i ijS ; and a 

 charter, dated 1221, ifTued by Llewelyn the Great, proves 

 that it did not receive this name from king Edward. At a 

 very early period it was the feat of the Bvitifli priitces. Ro- 

 deric refided here in 7 50 ; and by a pollerior Roderic the 

 royal refidcnce was removed to Aberfraw in Anglefea. Out 

 of the ruins of the ancient town arofe the prefent, which by 

 a charter of king Edward I. was made a free borough, go- 

 verned by a mayor, who is pro tempore deputy-governor of 

 the caftle, one alderman, and two baiHffs ; there are alfo a 

 town-clerk and two ferjeants at mace. The town fends one 

 member to parliament, who is returned by the joint fuffrage 

 of Conway, Pwllheli, Ncfyn, and Crickaeth ; and the right 

 of voting extends to every perfon ref:dent in thefe places. 

 An extraordinary privilege was granted to Caernarvon, that 

 no burgefs could be convifled of any crime, committed be- 

 tween tlie Conwy and the Dovy, but by a jury of his townf- 

 men. The town was originally contained within its prefent 

 walls, but the fuburbs are become c;f greater extent than the 

 town : the llrcets are at right angles correfponding with the 

 four gates ; the houfes are well built, and the ilreets clean, 

 but, as in all other ancient towns, n;.rrow and confined. It 

 is become a place of fafhionable refort, during the fummer 

 feafon ; the eh^jant hot and cold baths, ertfted by the earl 

 of Uxbridge, having added greatly to its celebrity. On the 

 outfide of [he walls is a broad and pleafant terrace walk 

 -along the fide of the Menai, extending Irom the quay to the 

 north end of the w;:lls, which is .i fafhionable promenade in 

 fine evenings. Caernarvon is in the parilh of Llan-Beblic, 

 and the chu'-ch is fituated about half a mile from the town. 

 It contains nothing remakabk, except a marble monument, 

 ■with two recumbent figures of fir William and lady Griffith 

 of Penrhyn, who died in the year 1587. The fervicc is al- 

 ways performed here in the Welfti language. There is an 



Englifh fervice every Sunday morning and afternoon, in the 

 chapel of cafe to this church, fituated on the north-welt 

 corner of the town : the former is generally very well at- 

 tended. 



The entrance to the port of Caernarvon is rather danger- 

 ous, from the cxtcnfive fand-banks near ; but the harbour i« 

 capacious, and vcffcls offix or feven hundred tons ride in fc- 

 curity ; and tiie quay i.s peculiarly convenient, as large vef- 

 fels can come dole to it, and deliver and lake in their car- 

 goes. The trade has of late years been increafing, though 

 at prefent it confifts more of exports than imports. .Slates, 

 &c. are fent to Liverpool, Brilloi, and London ; copper 

 ore from Llanberis and Paris Mountain to Swanfca ; flan- 

 nels, web.<, (lockings, and an ochre found in Anglefea. to 

 America and the Well Indies. The imports conlift chiefly 

 of Iri(h cloth, fine wool, hides, tallow, and grocery goods, 

 for the ufe of the interior. There is a weekly market on 

 .Saturday. The county affizes are occafionally held here ; 

 and the room over the eaftern gateway, formerly ufed as a 

 cnllom-houfe, is converted into the fclTions-lioufe, where all 

 the county bufinefs is tranfafted. This was done, as an in- 

 fcription in front informs us, by the munificence of fir Wil- 

 liam Wyime, and his nephew Thomas Wynne efq. A. D. 

 1767. A new cuftom-houfe is creeled within the walls on 

 _ the Menai, much more convenient for the commerce. The 

 port is fubjeft in its cuftoms to the comptroller of Beau- 

 maris. Caernarvon is diftant from London 244 miles N. W. 

 CAERNARVON is alfo a townlhip of America, iu the 

 county ol Lancafter and ftate of Peiinfylvania. 



Caernarvon Cajlle is the moil magnificent fortrefs in 

 North Wales. It is well fituated for natural ftrength ; one 

 fide bounded by the Mcnai, another bv the ^lluary of Seiont, 

 a third by a creek of the Menai, and the fourth ifolatcd by 

 art. The fite was admirably calculated for a ftrong poll, 

 and could not fail to ftrike a prince of military talents, like 

 Edward, as a proper place to ereft a curb for his newly 

 conquered, and confequently dilfatisfied, fubjefts. As the 

 conqueror of the country, there is great reafon for fuppofing 

 that monarch to be the founder of the prefent edifice, (per- 

 haps on the ruins of one more ancient,) to check the fpirit 

 of infuneftion that might arife in Snowdonia, as he did on 

 the Deiibighftiire fide by the caftles of Conway and Rhud- 

 dlan. The obfervation of Mr. Barrington feems well 

 founded, that the plans of the Wcllh cafths, ereited by 

 Edward I. were borrowed from the Afiatic fortreffes which 

 that prince had feen in tlie Holy Land, becaufe they appear 

 precifcly fimilar to many copied and inferted in the valuable 

 trafts of Le Brun. After the conqueft was nearly com- 

 pleted, in 1282, the caftle was begun; and in little more 

 than a year this immenfc building was finilhed. For ftiU 

 further to fubdue the haughty people, already mortified by 

 a foreign yoke, he impofed on them the hateful taflc of 

 forging chains for their country, and putting the lait fatal 

 hand to its independence. The peafantry were compelled 

 to perform the required labour, and their chieftains to defray 

 the expence incurred. It is built of a mixture of lime and 

 grit-ftonc : fome of the materials were furnilhed by the ruins 

 of the old town, and fome were brought from Vacnol. It 

 forms a bold and ftriking objed, and the (hell is nearly en- 

 tire. The entrance into the caftle is grand, between two 

 mafl"y towers ; in front of which, over the gateway, is 

 placed a ftatue of the royal founder, with a dagger in his 

 hand, in a menacing pofture. This was defended by four 

 portcullifes. The lorm of the caftle, inclofing an area of 

 about three acres, is oblong : the towers are elegant, fome 

 pentagonal, fome hexagonal, and others oAagonal ; two of 

 thefe are pre-eminent : and of thefe, the eagle tower, fo 



called 



