Travel Caernarfon Map

Travel to Caernarfon Map

Caernarfon tourist guide map of landmarks & destinations by Walkfo

Caernarfon history

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The present city of Caernarfon grew up around and owes its name to its Norman and late Medieval fortifications. The earlier British and Romano-British settlement at Segontium was named for the nearby Afon Seiont. After the end of Roman rule in Britain around 410, the settlement continued to be known as Cair Segeint (“Fort Seiont”) and as Cair Custoient (“Fort Constantius or Constantine”), of the History of the Britons, cited by James Ussher in Newman’s life of Germanus of Auxerre, both of whose names appear among the 28 civitates of sub-Roman Britain in the Historia Brittonum traditionally ascribed to Nennius. The work states that the inscribed tomb of “Constantius the Emperor” (presumably Constantius Chlorus, father of Constantine the Great) was still present in the 9th century. (Constantius actually died at York; Ford credited the monument to a different Constantine, the supposed son of Saint Elen and Magnus Maximus, who was said to have ruled northern Wales before being removed by the Irish.) The medieval romance about Maximus and Elen, Macsen’s Dream, calls her home Caer Aber Sein (“Fort Seiontmouth” or “the caer at the mouth of the Seiont”) and other pre-conquest poets such as Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd also used the name Caer Gystennin. The Norman motte was erected apart from the existing settlement and came to be known as y gaer yn Arfon, “the fortress in Arfon”. (The region of Arfon itself derived its name from its position opposite Anglesey, known as Môn in Welsh.) A 1221 charter by Llywelyn the Great to the canons of Penmon priory on Anglesey mentions Kaerinarfon; the Brut mentions both Kaerenarvon and Caerenarvon. In 1283, King Edward I completed his conquest of Wales which he secured by a chain of castles and walled towns. The construction of a new stone Caernarfon Castle seems to have started as soon as the campaign had finished. Edward’s architect, James of St. George, may well have modelled the castle on the walls of Constantinople, possibly being aware of the town’s legendary associations. Edward’s fourth son, Edward of Caernarfon, later Edward II of England, was born at the castle in April 1284 and made Prince of Wales in 1301. A story recorded in the 16th century suggests that the new prince was offered to the native Welsh on the premise “that [he] was borne in Wales and could speake never a word of English”, however there is no contemporary evidence to support this. Caernarfon was constituted a borough in 1284 by charter of Edward I. The charter, which was confirmed on a number of occasions, appointed the mayor of the borough Constable of the Castle ex officio. The former municipal borough was designated a royal borough in 1963. The borough was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974, and the status of “royal town” was granted to the community which succeeded it. Caernarfon was the county town of the historic county of Caernarfonshire. In 1911, David Lloyd George, then Member of Parliament (MP) for Caernarfon boroughs, which included various towns from Llŷn to Conwy, agreed to the British Royal Family’s idea of holding the investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle. The ceremony took place on 13 July, with the royal family visiting Wales, and the future Edward VIII was duly invested. In 1955 Caernarfon was in the running for the title of Capital of Wales on historical grounds but the town’s campaign was heavily defeated in a ballot of Welsh local authorities, with 11 votes compared to Cardiff’s 136. Cardiff therefore became the Welsh capital. On 1 July 1969 the investiture ceremony for Charles, Prince of Wales was again held at Caernarfon Castle. The ceremony went ahead without incident despite terrorist threats and protests, which culminated in the death of two members of Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (Welsh Defence Movement), Alwyn Jones and George Taylor, who were killed when their bomb – intended for the railway line at Abergele in order to stop the British Royal Train – exploded prematurely. The bomb campaign (one in Abergele, two in Caernarfon and finally one on Llandudno Pier) was organised by the movement’s leader, John Jenkins. He was later arrested after a tip-off and was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment. In July 2019 Caernarfon hosted a rally for Welsh independence. The event, organised by AUOB (All Under One Banner) Cymru, included a march through the town centre. Organisers estimated that roughly 8,000 people joined on the march on the town square; local authorities confirmed at least 5,000 attendees. The event featured a number of speakers including Hardeep Singh Kohli, Evra Rose, Dafydd Iwan, Lleuwen Steffan, Siôn Jobbins, Beth Angell, Gwion Hallam, Meleri Davies and Elfed Wyn Jones. Talks covered criticism of Brexit and Westminster with advocating Welsh Independence. The history of Caernarfon, as an example where the rise and fall of different civilizations can be seen from one hilltop, is discussed in John Michael Greer’s book The Long Descent. He writes of Caernarfon: Spread out below us in an unexpected glory of sunlight was the whole recorded history of that little corner of the world. The ground beneath us still rippled with earthworks from the Celtic hill fort that guarded the Menai Strait more than two and a half millennia ago. The Roman fort that replaced it was now the dim brown mark of an old archeological site on low hills off to the left. Edward I’s great gray castle rose up in the middle foreground, and the high contrails of RAF jets on a training exercise out over the Irish Sea showed that the town’s current overlords still maintained the old watch. Houses and shops from more than half a dozen centuries spread eastward as they rose through the waters of time, from the cramped medieval buildings of the old castle town straight ahead to the gaudy sign and sprawling parking lot of the supermarket back behind us.

  

Caernarfon map & travel guide with history & landmarks to explore

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Tourist Guide to Caernarfon Map

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Walkfo Caernarfon travel map key: visit National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top travel destinations in Caernarfon