Caernarvon

Caernarvon, a parliamentary and municipal borough, assize town, and head of quarter sessions, capital of Caernarvonshire, on the E. shore of Caernarvon Bay, at the mouth of the little river Seoint. Beyond some brass and iron founding there is little manufacturing in the town, but the port has a trade in slates, stone, and copper ore, and a great many summer visitors resort hither for sea-bathing and for the scenery of the neighbourhood. Caernarvon is near the site of an old Roman station, and was the former seat of the Prince of North Wales. Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, fortified it in 1098, and the castle, which now forms one of the finest ruins in the kingdom, was begun in 1284, and common tradition says that Edward II. was born, if not in the newly-begun castle, at least in the town. The castle, which stands on the west side of the town, occupies an irregular oblong of about three acres, and its walls are many feet thick. There are thirteen embattled towers, and the main gateway was defended by four portcullises. Part of the walls of the town and some of the gateways still exist, but the town has overflowed them, and they are now inside it. Many Roman remains have been found at the Roman station above-mentioned, and on the left bank of the river are the thick-walled remains of a Roman fort. Caernarvon unites with the Bangor group of towns to send one member to Parliament. Its weekly market is held on Saturday.