Conway

Conway, or ABERCONWAY, an ancient and picturesque little seaport town of North Wales, in Carnarvonshire, situated on the left bank of the river Conway at its estuary, 45½ miles NW. of Chester by rail. The river is crossed by a fine tubular bridge constructed by Stephenson in 1848, as well as by a suspension bridge built by Telford in 1826 (see BRIDGE). The town is triangular in form, and is surrounded by a high wall 12 feet thick and 1 mile in circumference, pierced by four Moorish-looking gates, and crowned by twenty-one round towers. In its south-eastern corner are the magni- ficent remains of Conway Castle, rising proudly from a rock above the river. It was first built by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, and rebuilt in 1284 by Edward I., to check the Welsh. Its walls are 12 to 15 feet thick, with eight vast towers, four of which are each surmounted by a slender turret. The Plâs Mawr ('great mansion') is a noble timber house erected in 1585, its exterior and interior profusely covered with ornament. A Cistercian abbey was founded here by Llywelyn ab Jorwerth, prince of North Wales, in which Llywelyn the Great was buried. The Castle Hotel now occupies its site. Population, 3467. Conway (a chartered borough since 1876) is one of the six Carnarvon boroughs. It is still visited by vast numbers of tourists, but as a place of resort it has been left far behind by Llandudno, 4 miles to the north.