“Corwen College for Six Widows of Clergymen of the Church of England, who died possessed of cure of souls, in the county of Merioneth, A.D. M.D.CCL. By the legacy of William Eyton, Esq. of Plas Warren.”
Corwen is the country of Owen Glandwr. The head inn is adorned by his gigantic portrait: in the church wall is shown the private doorway, through which he entered his pew whenever he attended worship, and in the rock impending over the church yard is a recess, called “his chair.” From this rude seat Glandwr is said to have thrown a dagger with such strength that it left an impression of its form in a hard stone below, full half an inch in depth, which stone now forms the lintel of the doorway leading to his pew within the church.
On the sloping brow of a lofty hill, having a western aspect, is a circular enclosure, formed by loose stones but arranged in a systematic way, and measuring rather more than half a mile in circumference. Some scattered heaps within it are supposed to have been habitations, but nothing now appears to justify the notion. This curious circus is called Caer Drewyn, and Owen Gwynedd is said to have been encamped within it while the army of Henry the Second lay on the opposite side of the vale. A situation so commanding could not have escaped the notice of the prudent Glandwr, who frequently took shelter within this rude fortress, from which he had a free and uninterrupted view of his native vale of Glan-Dwrdwy. About one mile from Corwen is Rûg, the beautiful seat of Colonel Vaughan.
BARMOUTH.
A seaport town in the county of Merioneth, is situated at the embouchure of the river Maw or Mawddach, which is obstructed at its entrance by a bar, and hence the origin of the Welsh name Abermaw, and the English Barmouth. The old town almost hangs over the sands, being built in parallel rows along the front of a steep rock, and upon so inconvenient a plan that the windows of all the houses, except those in the lowest street, are annoyed by the smoke ascending from the chimneys of those below. This formal arrangement has occasioned its comparison by tourists to the rock of Gibraltar, and seen from the sea it certainly does present a warlike front. The new town stands upon the sands at the base of the rock, and though free from the smoky imputation which blackens the character of its elder brother, is scarcely safe from the attacks of Neptune, who is only kept at a respectful distance by the intervention of a few mounts of sand shifting with every storm. The beach is level, hard, and smooth; a great convenience to those whose health requires the stimulus of cold immersion, and an agreeable ride for the fashionable visiters who come hither in the summer season for sociability and recreation. The panorama around the estuary is inconceivably grand; the river, expanding into a bay, is embraced by mountains assuming all forms as they aspire above each other, shooting into denuded cliffs that hang over the water, or clothed with forests retiring into deep glens, whither fancy alone can pursue them.
Barmouth has become now a very popular place, arising from various causes, its established character for courtesy and hospitality to strangers, the beauty of the surrounding scenery, and the excellence of the avenues communicating with the most fascinating landscapes in the principality. All the various modes of amusement and recreation provided at fashionable watering places are supplied here. The morning may be passed in riding over the sands, or exploring the wonders of the mountains and the beauty of the vales. Dancing, cards, billiards, and social meetings, occupy the evenings, at which the lyre of old Cambria is often heard pouring forth its plaintive melody. There are no public buildings of any architectural claims here. Baths, lodging-houses, spacious inns, and assembly rooms, are well adapted to their various ends, but present nothing interesting in the exterior. The new church, erected close to the water’s edge, is a very agreeable object, happily designed and creditably executed.
The Friar’s Island stands precisely in the mouth of the river, and ferries are established at the channels on each side; these once passed, a ride of one mile over the firm sands reaches the road to Towyn, which is carried along the front of a bold headland hanging over the sea, less beautiful, but equally bold as the old road round the brow of Penmaen Mawr.
There was a military station on the summit of Dinas Gortin, and close to the town stood a tower, in which the Earl of Richmond used to conceal himself, upon his visits to his confederates in this part of Wales. Its strength is celebrated in a poem, written at that period, in which it is also compared with Reinault’s tower near Mold.