Conwy

Often wrongly called "Conway", the name is spelt "Conwy", and pronounced 'Con-ooi'.

The town lies on the west bank of the river Conway, about 1 mile up from the sea. The name is derived from the Welsh “cyn-wy” meaning “principal river,” and it is to the Conway as a military obstacle in the path of invading armies that the town owes its importance in history. Conway is approached from the north either by the century-old suspension bridge, or by the tubular railway bridge of Stephenson.

The road bridge and the castle, perched above “Conway’s foaming blood,” seem almost one building, and there is no doubt that this is the best way to approach. To the NW the low ground of Conway Morfa contains an 18-hole golf course, and makes a convenient spot for bathing. The town is a walled fortress, shaped rather like a Welsh harp, with the Castle at the apex. This castle, of oblong shape, with walls 15 feet thick, and eight massive circular towers, not all standing, was built in 1284 by Edward I, on the site of an earlier fortress dating back to the time of the Conqueror.

The castle has two courtyards. The Great Hall, now roofless, has a chapel at the East End, with a well-designed window. In the Queen’s Tower there is a beautiful thirteenth-century Oratory, while tradition has it that the head of Llewellyn the Great, who was slain in 1282, was brought to Edward I in the Banqueting Hall. In the High Street of Conway is Plas Mawr, the “big house,” an Elizabethan mansion, now the headquarters of the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art. Of interest also is St. Mary’s Church, once part of a Cistercian Abbey built in 1184. It contains a beautiful thirteenth-century Rood-Screen. In the vestry can be seen some lace over 400 years old. The Walls of Conway, in places 13 feet thick, have been made into a walk and it is possible to make an almost complete circuit of the old town by this route. Conway has good facilities for yachting, fishing, and mountain walking.

Visit Conwy - Tourist and Business Guide