DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6913#0267
CAERNARVON CASTLE, NORTH WALES.
139
much of the lime-stone with which it was built, was brought from Tur-Kelyn in
Anglesea; and of the grit-stone from Vaenol, in this county. The Menai greatly
facilitated the carriage from both places. The external state of the walls are, at
present, (i.e. 1781) exactly as they were in the time of Edward. The walls are
defended by numbers of round towers, and have two principal gates : the east facing
the mountains, and the west upon the Menai. The entrance into the Castle is very
august beneath a great tower, on the front of which appears the statue of the
founder, with a dagger in his hand, as if menacing his new-acquired unwilling
subjects.* The gate had four portcullises, and every requisite of strength. The
court is oblong. The towers are very beautiful; none of them round, but pen-
tagonal, hexagonal, or octagonal: two are more lofty than the rest. The eagle
tower is remarkably fine, and has the addition of three slender angular turrets
issuing from the top. Edward II. was born in a little dark room in this tower, not
twelve feet long, nor eight in breadth : so little did, in those days, a royal consort
consult either pomp or conveniency. The gate through which the affectionate
Eleanor entered, to give the Welsh a Prince of their own, who could not speak a
word of English, is at the furthest end, at a vast height above the outside ground,
so could only be approached by a draw-bridge. In his sixteenth year the Prince
received the homage of his duped subjects at Chester, invested, as marks of his
dignity, with a chaplet of gold round his head, a golden ring on his finger, and a
silver sceptre in his hand.f The walls of this fortress are about seven feet
nine inches thick, and have within their thickness a most convenient gallery, with
narrow slips, for the discharge of arrows. The walls of the eagle tower are nearly
two feet thicker. The view from its summit is very fine." % To this account of
Pennant very little can be added. The Castle is founded on a rock, at the north-
western extremity of the town; and was formerly separated from the houses by a
moat and a draw-bridge. The greater part of the town was also enclosed by
embattled walls, furnished with bastion towers. In the rolls of Parliament, 31st Ed-
ward I. are petitions from two masons, and other persons connected with Caernarvon,
for money due to them for work done at this castle, and authenticated by certificates
from Hugo de Leomynstre, chamberlain of Caernarvon: the names and sums are
* Gough, in Additions to Camden's Britannia, vol. ii. p. 555, says that the figure is rather in the act of
sheathing his sword, "in allusion to the Welsh war being ended. Under his feet a defaced shield."
f Dodridge's Wales, 6. J Pennant's Tour in Wales, vol. ii. p. 216.
139
much of the lime-stone with which it was built, was brought from Tur-Kelyn in
Anglesea; and of the grit-stone from Vaenol, in this county. The Menai greatly
facilitated the carriage from both places. The external state of the walls are, at
present, (i.e. 1781) exactly as they were in the time of Edward. The walls are
defended by numbers of round towers, and have two principal gates : the east facing
the mountains, and the west upon the Menai. The entrance into the Castle is very
august beneath a great tower, on the front of which appears the statue of the
founder, with a dagger in his hand, as if menacing his new-acquired unwilling
subjects.* The gate had four portcullises, and every requisite of strength. The
court is oblong. The towers are very beautiful; none of them round, but pen-
tagonal, hexagonal, or octagonal: two are more lofty than the rest. The eagle
tower is remarkably fine, and has the addition of three slender angular turrets
issuing from the top. Edward II. was born in a little dark room in this tower, not
twelve feet long, nor eight in breadth : so little did, in those days, a royal consort
consult either pomp or conveniency. The gate through which the affectionate
Eleanor entered, to give the Welsh a Prince of their own, who could not speak a
word of English, is at the furthest end, at a vast height above the outside ground,
so could only be approached by a draw-bridge. In his sixteenth year the Prince
received the homage of his duped subjects at Chester, invested, as marks of his
dignity, with a chaplet of gold round his head, a golden ring on his finger, and a
silver sceptre in his hand.f The walls of this fortress are about seven feet
nine inches thick, and have within their thickness a most convenient gallery, with
narrow slips, for the discharge of arrows. The walls of the eagle tower are nearly
two feet thicker. The view from its summit is very fine." % To this account of
Pennant very little can be added. The Castle is founded on a rock, at the north-
western extremity of the town; and was formerly separated from the houses by a
moat and a draw-bridge. The greater part of the town was also enclosed by
embattled walls, furnished with bastion towers. In the rolls of Parliament, 31st Ed-
ward I. are petitions from two masons, and other persons connected with Caernarvon,
for money due to them for work done at this castle, and authenticated by certificates
from Hugo de Leomynstre, chamberlain of Caernarvon: the names and sums are
* Gough, in Additions to Camden's Britannia, vol. ii. p. 555, says that the figure is rather in the act of
sheathing his sword, "in allusion to the Welsh war being ended. Under his feet a defaced shield."
f Dodridge's Wales, 6. J Pennant's Tour in Wales, vol. ii. p. 216.