About Caernarfon
The history, geography, and character of Caernarfon.
Caernarfon sits on the Menai Strait, facing Anglesey across the water, with a castle at the foot of its square and a Roman fort on the edge of its streets. The name carries the older of the two: caer is Welsh for fort. The castle is Edward I's, and together with the town walls it is Caernarfon's part of the UNESCO World Heritage inscription it shares with Conwy, Harlech and Beaumaris. Y Maes, the square, is the middle of everything, and the people on it are Cofis.
History & Heritage
Two forts
Segontium, the Roman fort, came first: Cadw says Agricola founded it in AD 77 and the Romans stayed until about AD 394. Its foundations are laid out in open grass about 700 metres from Y Maes; check Cadw's access dates before you go. Edward I and his architect Master James of St George built the castle, the walls and a quay together, a 47-year project by Cadw's account. UNESCO inscribed the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd in 1986 as one property in four parts, and Caernarfon's part is the castle and the walls together.
The walls and the harbour
The walls are free and open in daylight, but Cadw says they can be viewed externally only, with access onto them not currently possible; on set days you can borrow the key to the Porth Mawr tower. On the harbour side the old Customs House, now the Anglesey, stands against the west wall; Cadw's record dates it, reputedly, to 1736. Inside the circuit the Black Boy Inn on Northgate Street has 'Built circa 1522' on its gable, and Cadw puts the building in the 17th century.
The quay and the railway
Below the castle, Cei Llechi is the old slate quay, where slate from the Nantlle quarries went out; its derelict buildings are now 19 workshops for local makers. The Welsh Highland Railway leaves from its station on St Helen's Road beside it, a narrow-gauge heritage line to Beddgelert and Porthmadog. The nearest national rail station is Bangor (Gwynedd), about half an hour away on the T2 bus.