The great Hall was very magnificent, and was of a curved form, conformable to the bend of the outward Walls, including one end with a large window, which seems to have been the private Chapel; it was one hundred and thirty feet in length, and thirty broad, and of great height; the roof was supported by eight noble Arches, six of which still remain there was a great fireplace at one end, and another on the side, it had six windows to the country and three to the Court, and beneath it were vast Vaults and Cellars. The foundation of one of the Towers next the Creek has been undermined, and it is now denominated the Hanging Tower.
Edward the First made this Town a Free Borough, and ordered that the Mayor (who was the Constable of the Castle for the time being) should preserve its privileges. William Sikun was appointed first to that honor. At present it is governed by one Alderman, a Recorder, Coroner, Water-bailiff, and two Serjeants at Mace, chosen annually. Its privileges extended from Carnarvon to the River Clwyd, and no one could be convicted of any crime within its limits, except by a Jury collected in that District, and such was the case with all the other English Garrisons in North Wales.
Conway is a Contributory Borough, with Carnarvon, Pwllheli, Nevin, and Crickaeth, in returning a Member to Parliament. The Great Sessions for the County were formerly held here, alternately with Carnarvon, but the latter place being more central, enjoys that privilege at present exclusively. The resident population in this Parish in 1801 was 889. The Market is on Friday. Conway is 232 miles N.W. from London. The passage over the river is attended with many inconveniences, and not many years ago a boat was upset, and several lives lost. The ferrymen are said to be very uncivil, and are accused of practising great impositions on strangers. [17] The regular charge ought to be one penny for a foot passenger, two-pence for a man and horse, and half a crown a wheel for a carriage, but they generally demand more than double these sums, and then importune for liquor.
It is to be hoped that when the improvements now executing on the Shrewsbury road are completed, Government will pay the same attention to the Chester line, and that a Bridge will be erected here, over the Conway; as this is the principal communication between Dublin and the North of England.
Plas mawr, (the great mansion) an old house in the centre of the town, built by Robert Wynne, Esq. a branch of the Gwydir family, in the year 1585, will be likely to attract the traveller’s attention. Over the gateway are the words Anechou, Apechou, sustine, abstine; and on the House these capital letters, IHS. X.P.S. being the Ancient method of inscribing our Saviour’s name. The Church, the ruins of an old Abbey, and another old House, called the College, also claim a visit from the stranger.
Gyffin, a Parish Church, about half a mile off, on the road to Llanrwst, is a Stipendiary Cure, and is generally annexed to Conway. The late Doctor Jones, Dean of Bangor, left £100. the interest of which he directed to be applied to the keeping of a School here. The Vicarage of Conway, as well as Gyffin, are in the patronage of the Bishop of Bangor. On the summit of the hill below the town, and nearly opposite to the bifurcated rock, on which stood the Castle of Diganwy, are the ruins of an ancient fortification, of a circular form, with only one entrance, and this probably is the place mentioned by Leland, in his Itinerary, and which he denominates Sinnodun, and where, he says, there are the remains of a great work; it is described by him as being a mile out of the town, but in what direction is not mentioned. Camden also mentions a British Post, called Caer Lleion, surrounded by Ditches and strong Ramparts, on a lofty hill, near Conway marsh. The Castle of Sinnodun is also represented as being situated near this place, in a Map of the County, annexed to a very old edition of that Author’s Britannia. As this small work is intended merely as a guide to the Tourist, in his excursion through the County, it cannot be expected to contain a very detailed or particular account of every object, which may deserve attention; for this reason the Compiler must pass over the siege of this Castle, during the Rebellion, in Oliver Cromwell’s time, and merely observe, that the custody of it was committed by the King to Archbishop Williams, of the Penrhyn family, near Bangor, and after the gentlemen and freeholders of the neighbourhood had placed a number of valuable articles under his care, and for which he had given them receipts, and thus became answerable for the property, he was, in 1645, cruelly dispossessed by Prince Rupert, without assigning any reason for this strange conduct; it was taken, however, from the Prince in June, 1646, by General Mytton. The Archbishop was buried in the Church of Llandegai, near Bangor, where his Monument is still to be seen.
It would puzzle any one, unacquainted with the mistakes and blunders of transcribers, to conjecture how Toisobius should become Ptolemy’s Conobius, or Conovius, (or Conovium) but when we reflect a little, it may be supposed, that the initial C, might be easily mistaken for T, and the v converted into b, so as to form Toinobius, instead of Coinovius. The derivation of the word Cynwy, seems to be, as Mr. Edward Llwyd conjectures, from Cyn, chief or principal, and Gwy, or wy, water; the prefix cyn, being augmentative, as cyn-gann, very white; cyn-dynn, very stiff; or signifying first or chief, as cynfyd, the old antediluvian world; cyn-ddydd, daybreak; and Dr. Davies supposes cyn to be synonymous with penn, as cyntaf, penaf, first or chief. Admitting this, Cungetorix would be Cyntwrch, and Cunobelinus, Cynfelyn, &c.
The River Conway has been celebrated for ages, for its muscle-pearl fishery. Pliny informs us, that Julius Cæsar dedicated to Venus Genetrix, in her temple at Rome, a Breastplate set with British Pearls; and Suetonius alledges the acquisition of these, as one motive for his invasion of the Island. Mr. Edward Llwyd asserts that the pearls found in this river are as large, and as well coloured, as any in Great Britain or Ireland, and says that he saw several very fine large ones in the possession of Robert Wynne, Esq. of Bodysgallen. Mr. Pennant distinguishes this shell-fish by the name of Mya Margaritifera. A vein of Burr, (a species of Mill-stones) was discovered near Conway, about the year 1800, but being inferior in quality to those brought from France, there is no great demand for them.
The ancient Conovium, for some time the station of the Tenth Roman Legion, was no doubt at Caer Rhun, about five miles up the River, and near the Parish Church of that name; as a Roman Hypocaust, a small Shield, and a great number of Roman Coins were discovered there, by the late Rev. Hugh Davies Griffith, late Vicar of the Parish, a gentleman of great worth and integrity, highly esteemed and respected in his neighbourhood, and a person who had a great taste for the study of Antiquities. And what renders this conjecture more probable is this, that there is a hill not far distant, which is still called Mynydd Caer Lleon, or the Hill of the Legion. The Rev. W. Brickdale, at that time Rector of Llanrwst, saw several Roman bricks, dug up near the Church of Caer Rhun, which were inscribed LEG. X. This Legion was denominated Antoniana Augusta. The XXth, stationed at Chester, (Caer Lleon Gawr, or Caer Lleion ar Ddyfrdwy) was distinguished by the name Vicessima Victrix, and the Second Legion, stationed at Caer Leon, in Monmouthshire, or Caer Lleon ar Wysc, was known by the title of Augusta Britannica. And there was (no doubt) a Roman Road from hence to Segontium on the West, and to Varium or Bodvarri and Caerwys, on the East, and another probably through Dolyddelen, to Sarn Helen and Tommen y Mur, in Merionethshire; Pen y street, Dolgelley; Castell y Beri, near Tal y Llynn, to Penal near Machynlleth, where there was a Roman encampment, and where very considerable remains were discovered.
The admirer of picturesque and romantic Scenery would, no doubt, consider his time well employed, and find his propensity amply gratified, were he to deviate here, from the direct road to Bangor and Carnarvon, and trace the Conway to its source, or at least to its junction with the Lledr and Machno; he would then pass very near Caer Rhun, the ancient Conovium, and in proceeding along the banks of this beautiful River, would be able to visit a great number of Water-falls, and he would find the Scenery constantly changing, and new beauties presenting themselves to his view, at almost every turn of the road. My limits will merely allow me to enumerate some of the objects which claim his attention, and ought to be visited, which are the numerous Cascades on the right, between Llanbedr (near Caer Rhun) and Trevriw; the old House of Gwydir, and its beautiful woods; the town of Llanrwst, and particularly the old Monuments in the Church, to the memory of the Wynne’s, the ancient Proprietors of Gwydir, and the handsome Bridge over the Conway, supposed to have been erected by the celebrated Inigo Jones, who is said to have been a native of that neighbourhood. Near this town are also several Lead Mines. The traveller will then proceed through the Gwydir woods, up to the Village of Bettws y Coed, and the new Iron Waterloo Bridge, over the Conway, on the Great Irish Road; he will next visit the falls of the Conway and Machno, and then return to Bettws, and proceed up the river Lligwy; when about half way between that Village and Capel Curig Inn, he will stop to view Rhaidr y Wennol, a tremendous Cateract, and from the last mentioned Inn, he may either continue his rout along the Irish road to Bangor, or direct his course to Bethgelert Village, which is a stage of twelve miles, or turn off on the right from that road, after he has proceeded about four miles, for the Village of Llanberris, through its wonderful pass, and from the new Inn, which we shall have occasion hereafter to notice, he will be able to procure a guide to the summit of Snowdon. But as most strangers will no doubt proceed from Conway to Bangor, it shall be my endeavour to act as their guide, and mention some of the particulars which are worth their attention along this line of road: For the first two miles he will proceed up hill, until he comes to an opening between two rocks, near a place called Sychnant, when all of a sudden a most magnificent scene presents itself: from hence he commands a full view of Beaumaris Bay, generally covered with a number of small vessels; the Puffin, or Priestholm Island, the Village of Llangoed, the Town of Beaumaris, Baron Hill, and the Friars; the former the beautiful seat of Lord Viscount Bulkeley, and the latter that of his brother, Sir Robert Williams, Baronet, M.P. all on the Anglesey shore;—On the Carnarvonshire side, Bangor and Penrhyn Castle, and last, though not least, the huge Pen-maen-mawr, protruding its rocky front into the sea, forming a natural barrier, in such manner (to all appearance) as to cut off every communication this way, and render any further progress impracticable; the art of man has, however, at length conquered these difficulties, and surmounted every obstacle, for about the year 1772 an excellent road was formed along the edge of this once tremendous and dangerous precipice, under the direction of the ingenious Mr. Sylvester, Parliament having generously voted a grant for this purpose. Prior to this event several fatal accidents had happened here, and one or two nearly miraculous escapes are recorded in Mr. Pennant’s Tour through North Wales. At that time no carriages passed this way, and consequently all the travelling was either on foot or on horseback. Dean Swift was generally a Pedestrian, and in one of his rambles he left these lines, written on a pane of glass at the old Inn, (now a Farm House) near this Mountain:—