Historical background
The Roman fort site ( Segontium ), near the south-eastern
limits of the present town, may have provided the earliest
focus for civilian settlement, a possibility strengthened by
the situation of the parish church of St Peblig immediately
adjacent. The llys and a native settlement were established
on the spur of rock between the confluence of the Seiont and
the Cadnant with the Menai Straits before the Edwardian conquest;
these were demolished to make way for a walled and castled
borough at the end of the thirteenth-century.
Caernarfon's extra-mural growth was still limited by the time
of Speed's survey of 1612, though the area which now corresponds
to Penrallt had been colonised, and it is only with the growth
of the slate industry, and to some extent copper exports, from
the late eighteenth century that the town begins to grow, with
the establishment of a new quay (below the castle) in the early
nineteenth century, the Nantlle railway in 1812 and the Uxbridge
Arms (Royal, Celtic Royal) Hotel. The town's growth was controlled,
and to some extent quarrelled over, by the major landowning
families – the Pagets of Plas Newydd, the Lords Newborough
of Glynllifon, Assheton Smith of Vaynol, Thomas of Coed Helen
and Garnons. Its growing importance is apparent in the provision
of civic buildings such as the county hall, law courts, gaol,
post office in the nineteenth- and twentieth-centuries, and
its significance as a regional centre of dissent by the construction
of a number of substantial chapels. The twentieth-century saw
the construction of social housing on a significant scale and
attempts to develop its tourist base.
Key historic landscape characteristics
Roman fort, castle, walled medieval town, slate quay,
sequence of housing stock
The castle and the walls form a World Heritage Site, and the
intra-mural settlement preserves the medieval street-plan.
At least one medieval building, which has recently been renovated,
survives within the walls as well as a number of eighteenth-century
town-houses, which are in poor condition. Nineteenth-century
civic institutions, including the law courts and the former
prison dominate the north-western part of the old town, as
does Gwynedd County Council's modern Pencadlys complex, built
in the 1980s. Nineteenth-century shops within the walls have
recently been sympathetically renovated by Cwmni Tref Caernarfon.
The area immediately to the south-east of the Castle Square
(‘y maes') is dominated by early nineteenth century terraced
housing (SH48106258C). Declining congregations mean that most
of the town's large chapels will shortly probably be forced
to close. Engedi (an imposing Calvanist Methodist building)
is currently for sale.
The construction of a large faux-medieval multi-storey car-park
on the site of the medieval mill-pool has had a significant
impact on the townscape (SH48066273).
The two main arteries out of the area of the medieval town,
the Bangor Road (to the north) and the Porthmadog road (to
the south), are distinguished by a sequence of Regency villas
(SH48206249 and SH48216309), substantial nineteenth century
houses, often making use of brick, and suburban villas the
further one moves away from the centre (SH48246325C and SH48336130C).
The Regency buildings in particular have been allowed to decline
and have become shabby. Those adjacent to the Royal Hotel and
the former Christ Church preserve some attractive wrought-iron
work verandas. The row of three- or four-storey houses along
the Bangor Road are built in a striking yellow brick; many
are now B&Bs or old people's homes. Further along this
road is a run of very attractive 1930s houses, most of which
have unfortunately had modern windows inserted over years.
Plas Coch (SH 4900 6432), at the limit of the area on the Bangor
road, is a substantial late nineteenth century industrialist's
dwelling, and is proposed for refurbishment along with the
adjacent Plas Brereton (area 26).
There is extensive provision of social housing to the east
of the town, mainly dating from the 1950s. On the southern
periphery of the town is a hospital complex, built around a
substantial workhouse, adjacent to the Morfa Common park, established
between 1866 and 1889. This is included in the Cadw/ICOMOS Register
of Landscapes, Parks and Gardens.
The outstanding dock-landscape along the Seiont remains largely
neglected (SH 4796 6257 C). This includes the operational Brunswick
Ironworks and the buildings of DeWinton's Union Ironworks,
in re-use for light industry. This area has now become the
northern terminus of the revived Welsh Highland Railway, a
development which may introduce new pressures and opportunities.
Back to Caernarfon-Nantlle
Landscape Character Map
