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Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the
administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing
Deganwy Deganwy (Middle Welsh ''Degannwy'', Brythonic *''Decantouion'') is a town and electoral ward in Conwy County Borough in Wales with a population of 3,936 (2011). It lies in the Creuddyn Peninsula alongside Llandudno (to the north) and Rhos-on-Se ...
on the east bank. The town formerly lay in
Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
and prior to that in Caernarfonshire. The community, which also includes Deganwy and Llandudno Junction, had a population of 14,753 at the 2011 census. Although the community of Conwy straddles the River Conwy, for postal purposes the areas on the east bank form part of the post town of Llandudno Junction, with the Conwy post town being confined to west bank of the river. The ward on the west bank of the river had a population of 4,065 at the 2011 census. The resident population of the wider Conwy County Borough was estimated to be 116,200 in an ONS-estimate. The name 'Conwy' derives from the old Welsh words ''cyn'' (chief) and ''gwy'' (water), the river being originally called the 'Cynwy'.


History


Castle and town walls

Conwy Castle and the town walls were built, on the instructions of Edward I of England, between 1283 and 1289, as part of his conquest of the principality of Wales. The church standing in Conwy has been marked as the oldest building in Conwy and has stood in the walls of Conwy since the 14th century. However, the oldest structure is part of the town walls, at the southern end of the east side. Here one wall and the tower of a ''llys'' (palace/court house) belonging to
Llywelyn the Great Llywelyn the Great ( cy, Llywelyn Fawr, ; full name Llywelyn mab Iorwerth; c. 117311 April 1240) was a King of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually " Prince of the Welsh" (in 1228) and "Prince of Wales" (in 1240). By a combination of war and d ...
and his grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffydd have been incorporated into the wall. Built on a rocky outcrop, it has a prominent
apsidal In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
tower. The walls are part of a World Heritage Site, Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd. People born within the
town walls A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...
of Conwy are nicknamed "Jackdaws", after the jackdaws which live on the walls there. A Jackdaw Society existed until 2011. The population of the town in 1841 was 1,358.


Abbey

Conwy was the original site of Aberconwy Abbey, founded by
Llywelyn the Great Llywelyn the Great ( cy, Llywelyn Fawr, ; full name Llywelyn mab Iorwerth; c. 117311 April 1240) was a King of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually " Prince of the Welsh" (in 1228) and "Prince of Wales" (in 1240). By a combination of war and d ...
. Edward and his troops took over the abbey site and moved the monks up the Conwy valley to a new site at Maenan, establishing
Maenan Abbey Maenan Abbey (formally: The Abbey Church of Saint Mary and All Saints; alternatively: Abaty Maenan, or Maynan Abbey; now Maenan Abbey Hotel) was a monastic religious house located in Maenan, Conwy, Wales. It is situated near Llanrwst. History ...
. The parish church St Mary & All Saints still retains some parts of the original abbey church in the east and west walls.


Suspension bridge

Conwy has other tourist attractions.
Conwy Suspension Bridge The Conwy Suspension Bridge is a Grade I-listed structure and is one of the first road suspension bridges in the world. Located in the medieval town of Conwy in Conwy county borough, North Wales, it is now only passable on foot. The bridge is ...
, designed by Thomas Telford to replace the ferry, was completed in 1826 and spans the River Conwy next to the castle. Telford designed the bridge's supporting towers to match the castle's turrets. The bridge is now open to pedestrians only and, together with the toll-keeper's house, is in the care of the National Trust.


Railway bridge

The
Conwy Railway Bridge The Conwy Railway Bridge carries the North Wales coast railway line across the River Conwy between Llandudno Junction and the town of Conwy. The wrought iron tubular bridge, which is now Grade I listed, was built in the 19th century. It is the ...
, a
tubular bridge A tubular bridge is a bridge built as a rigid box girder section within which the traffic is carried. Famous examples include the original Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait, the Conwy railway bridge over the River Conwy, designed and tested ...
, was built for the Chester and Holyhead Railway by Robert Stephenson. The first tube was completed in 1848, the second in 1849. The bridge is still in use on the
North Wales Coast Line The North Wales Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir Gogledd Cymru), also known as the North Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell Gogledd Cymru or cy, label=none, Prif Linell y Gogledd), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, ...
, along with the
station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...
, which is located within the town walls. In addition to a modern bridge serving the town, the A55 road passes under the river in a tunnel, Britain's first immersed tube tunnel, which was built between 1986 and 1991. The old mountain road to
Dwygyfylchi Dwygyfylchi () is a village in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is part of the community of Penmaenmawr which has a population of 4,353. The electoral ward of Capelulo which includes Dwygyfylchi had a population of 1,485 in 2011. It was formerly ...
and Penmaenmawr runs through the
Sychnant Pass Sychnant Pass (Welsh: ''Bwlch Sychnant'', "Dry-stream Pass") in Conwy County Borough, Wales, links Conwy to Penmaenmawr via Dwygyfylchi. Much of the pass is in Snowdonia National Park, and a large area of land within it has been designated a S ...
, at the foot of
Conwy Mountain Mynydd y Dref (Welsh : ''"Mountain of the Town"'') or Conwy Mountain is a hilly area to the west of the town of Conwy, in North Wales. To the north it overlooks the sea of Conwy Bay, and to the south lie the foothills of the Carneddau range of ...
.


Aberconwy House

The National Trust owns Aberconwy House, which is Conwy's only surviving 14th-century merchant's house, one of the first buildings built inside the walls of Conwy.


Plas Mawr

Plas Mawr is an
Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558ā€“1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
house built in 1576 by the Wynn family, which has been extensively refurbished to its 16th-century appearance and is now in the care of
Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...
and open to the public.


Smallest house in Great Britain

The house named in the
Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
as the Smallest House in Great Britain, with dimensions of 3.05 Ɨ 1.8 metres, can be found on the quay. It was in continuous occupation from the 16th century (and was even inhabited by a family at one point) until 1900 when the owner (a fisherman ā€“ Robert Jones) was forced to move out on the grounds of hygiene. The rooms were too small for him to stand up in fully. The house is still owned by his descendants today, and visitors can look around it for a small charge.


Vardre Hall

Vardre Hall is a 19th-century
Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
listed building directly opposite to Conwy Castle. It was erected by Conservative
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
MP William Edward FitzMaurice in the mid 1850s. In 1869 the building was sold to solicitor William Jones. The building was used as a solicitor's office until 1972, when it was bought out and became The Towers Restaurant. After lying empty for a number of years Vardre Hall changed hands again, and in 1999 was refurbished as a shop.


Medieval watchtower

Across the estuary is Bodysgallen Hall, which incorporates a medieval tower that was possibly built as a watch tower for Conwy Castle.


Notable locations

Conwy Morfa Morfa Conwy is a spit formed originally of marshy sand, north of the western end of the modern A55 entrance to Conwy in Conwy county borough, north-west Wales. A widely used corruption of the place name is ''Conwy Morfa'', likely to have come ...
, a marshy spit of land on the west side of the estuary, was probably the location where golf was first played on Welsh soil. It was also the place where Hugh Iorys Hughes developed, and later built, the floating Mulberry Harbour, used in
Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...
in World War II. Conwy Hospital closed in 2003 and has since been demolished.
Conwy railway station Conwy railway station serves the town of Conwy, Wales, and is located on the Crewe railway station, Crewe to Holyhead North Wales Coast Line. There are through services to Chester railway station, Chester via Colwyn Bay, Rhyl, Prestatyn and Fl ...
opened in 1848.


Lifeboat

A lifeboat station was established by the
RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...
in 1966 and currently operates the D-class inshore lifeboat, the ''May-Bob'', (Dā€“765).


Governance

A Conwy
electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...
exists for elections to Conwy County Borough Council. The ward extends west of the River Conwy only with a total population of 4,065. The other county wards within the Conwy community are Deganwy, Marl and Pensarn. Conwy also has a town council, based at Conwy Guildhall, comprising 17 town councillors elected from the five community wards of Aberconwy, Castle, Deganwy, Marl and Pensarn.


Administrative history

Conwy was an ancient borough. Unlike most such boroughs, it was not reformed by the
Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will 4 c 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The legisl ...
, and so the old borough corporation continued to exist and run the town. By 1876 the borough corporation was seen as an archaic and unaccountable impediment to the proper management of the town. The town's residents organised a petition to convert the town into a municipal borough with an elected corporation to take responsibility for public health and local government. A royal charter incorporating the town as a municipal borough was issued in December 1876, and the new borough corporation took over the running of the town from March 1877. The municipal borough boundary included land on both sides of the river, covering the parish of Conwy (or Conway) and parts of the parishes of Gyffin and
Dwygyfylchi Dwygyfylchi () is a village in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is part of the community of Penmaenmawr which has a population of 4,353. The electoral ward of Capelulo which includes Dwygyfylchi had a population of 1,485 in 2011. It was formerly ...
on the west bank, and part of the parish of
Eglwys Rhos Llanrhos (English: 'Church on the moor') is a village in the community of Conwy, in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The village lies between the towns of Conwy and Llandudno. Llanrhos was a civil parish from 1894 until 1974. The area was formerly pa ...
on the east bank. The urban parishes within the borough boundary were reorganised in 1894 to comprise Conwy and Gyffin on the west bank and
Llanrhos Llanrhos (English: 'Church on the moor') is a village in the community of Conwy, in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The village lies between the towns of Conwy and Llandudno. Llanrhos was a civil parish from 1894 until 1974. The area was formerly p ...
on the east bank. In 1972 the borough council voted to change the spelling of the town's name from "Conway" to "Conwy". The change was agreed by the Secretary of State for Wales and took effect on 1 August 1972. The municipal borough was abolished in 1974, with the area becoming part of the Aberconwy district in the new county of Gwynedd. A community called Conwy was established at the same time covering the area of the former borough. Further local government reorganisation in 1996 saw Aberconwy abolished and the town transferred to the new Conwy County Borough, named after the town but covering a much larger area.


Gallery

Images showing changes over time File:Conway Castle from the e(ast) 1795.jpg, Conwy castle before the bridge was built, 1795 File:Conway Town and Castle.(Plan).jpeg, Conway Town and Castle, 1800 File:Conway Castle - from the wood opposite.jpeg, 'Conway Castle: from the wood opposite', 1823 File:Conway Castle N. Wales.jpeg, Conwy Castle, 1838 File:Conway Bridge (Carnarvonshire, North Wales).jpeg, Conway Bridge and Castle ca 1840 File:Conway Bridge and Castle, North Wales.jpeg, The river bank at Conwy with the castle and bridge in the background ca 1850 File:The Town Of Conway - Its Church, Plas Mawr, Wall, Tower, &c, as seen from the battlement of the castle.jpeg, Conway c.1850 File:Conway Bridge & Castle.jpeg, 'Conway Bridge & Castle' ca 1850 File:Conwymap1947.png, Map of Conwy from 1947 File:Conwy Castle - bridge view.jpg, Conwy Castle - bridge view 2007 File:Conwy bridges.jpg, Conwy bridges in 2012 File:Mock Tudor in Conwy.jpg, Mock Tudor in Conwy- taken on January 14 2022


References


External links


A Vision of Britain Through Time

British Listed Buildings

Conwy River Festival

Conwy Town Tourism Association



Geograph

International Database and Gallery of Structures

Office for National Statistics




{{authority control Fortified settlements Towns in Conwy County Borough