hotochrom Co., Ltd._

BRIXHAM HARBOUR.

Showing the statue of William of Orange on the spot where he landed in
1688.]

CONWAY CASTLE

=How to get there.=--From Euston Station. L. and N.W. Railway.
=Nearest Station.=--Conway.
=Distance from London.=--225 miles.
=Average Time.=--6-1/2 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 35s. 9d. 20s. 7d. 18s. 8d.
Return 65s. 0d. 36s. 6d. 33s. 0d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Castle Hotel," "Erskine Arms,"
"Bridge Hotel," "Harp Hotel," "Aberconway Temperance
Hotel" (old house containing coffee-room dated 1400), and others.
=Alternative Route.=--Train from Paddington, _via_ Chester. Great
Western Railway.

The castle at Conway is one of the noblest fortresses in the kingdom,
the only one to approach it in size being the famous building at
Carnarvon. The present town of Conway has gradually sprung up round the
castle, built by Edward I. in 1284 to intimidate the Welsh. It was
unsuccessfully besieged by them in 1290. At the commencement of the
Parliamentarian War, the castle was garrisoned for the King by Williams,
Archbishop of York, but was taken by Mytton in 1646. The building was
comparatively unhurt during the war, but the lead and timber were
removed at the Restoration by Lord Conway, who dismantled the beautiful
fortress in a most barbarous manner, and the edifice was allowed to fall
more or less into decay.

The castle stands on the verge of a precipitous rock on the south-east of
the town, one side bounded by the river, a second by a tidal creek; the
other frontages overlook the town. It constitutes part of the walls of
Conway, which, with the castle, form the finest examples extant of
thirteenth-century military fortification. The castle itself was a
perfect specimen of a fortress, with walls of enormous thickness,
flanked by eight huge embattled towers. There are some traces still
remaining of the royal features of "Queen Eleanor's Oratory."

Near the Castle Hotel, in a side street, stands _Plas Mawe_, the "Great
House," a rich example of domestic Elizabethan architecture, built in
1585 by Robert Wynn of Gwydir. The rooms contain much oak panelling and
carving. A charge of 6d. is made for admission to the house.

Conway has a station of its own within the walls of the town, but the
visitor will do well to get out at Llandudno Junction, where a walk of a
few hundred yards leads to the famous Suspension Br