Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for HARLECH

HARLECH, a decayed ancient town in Llandanwg parish, Merioneth; about ½ a mile from the coast, at the mouth of the river Artro, on the line of railway from Aberdovey and Dolgelly to Tremadoc, 10 miles N by W of Barmouth. It was formerly the county town of Merioneth; and it is still the place of election, and a polling-place; but is now a mere village, with only about 600 inhabitants; yet it has a good inn, a railway sta. tion, a post-office‡ under Carnarvon, a church, three chapels, and an endowed school; and fairs are held at it on 4 March, 19 April, Trinity Thursday, 30 June, 21 Aug., 22 Sept., 10 Nov., and 11 Dec. A terrace behind the inn, and vantage-grounds in the neighbourhood, command one of the most splendid views of sea and mountain in Wales, together with the entire coast of Lleyn. A famous castle at Harlech stands on the brink of a precipice, overlooking the sea; and ranks, in general interest, with the castles of Carnarvon, Conway, and Beaumaris, but is inferior to them except in situation. A fortress on its site, called Twr Bronwen, was built, in the ancient British times, by Bronwen, the sister of King Brân; a subsequent and grander fortress was built on the same site, in the 16th century, by Maelgwyn Gwynedd, and was afterwards called Caer Collwyn, from a prince of the name Collwyn; and the present castle was built, in the time of Edward I., after designs by Henry de Elfreton, the architect of Carnarvon castle. The seaward side was sufficiently defended by the cliffs of the precipice; but the landward side is protected by a deep and very wide fosse; and the principal gateway there was approached by a draw-bridge, and is flanked by two lofty towers, and defended by three portcullises; while the towers of the bastions are machicolated, and formerly had turrets. The fortress is quadrangular, about 210 feet each way, with a round tower at each corner; the chief apartments form a fine elevation of three stories, on the entrance side of the inner court; the banqueting-hall is on the opposite side, overlooking the precipice; and remains of a chapel are on the right of the court. The castle was taken, in 1404, by Owen Glendower; was retaken, in 1408, by Prince Henry; was the retreat of Margaret of Anjou, after the battle of Northampton; was held against Edward IV., from 1459 to 1468, by Davydd-ap-Jevan; was reduced, in the last of these years, after great devastations, by the Herberts; was in the possession of alternately the royalists and the parliamentarians, during the civil wars of Charles I.; and was finally invested and dismantled, in 1647, by Gen. Mytton. The siege of 1468 gave rise to the celebrated Welsh air of the "March of the Men of Harlech;" and the devastations then done here and at Conway, are thus recorded in the "History of the Gwydyr Family:"—

In Hardlech every house
    Was basely set on fire;
But poor Nant Conway suffered more,
    For there the flames burnt higher.
'Twas in the year of our Lord
    Fourteen hundred sixty-eight,
That these unhappy towns of Wales
    Met with such wretched fate.

A remarkable level tract, known as Harlech Marsh, lies under the castle, and extends a considerable distance to the N; was evidently a piece of sea-bottom, left bare by the retiring of the sea; and is noted for a mephitic vapour which arose from it in 1694, prevailed for about 8 months, and caused great destruction of cattle and crops. The vapour appears to have consisted largely of hydrogen; and is supposed, by Dr. Lloyd, to have remotely originated in "a considerable amount locusts drowned in our sea, on their voyage from America." A golden torque, about 4 feet long, highly polished and twisted, was found in a garden near Harlech, in 1692; and is now in Lord Mostyn's collection of Welsh antiquities at Mostyn Hall. Several Roman coins and other relics also have been found in the neighbourhood; and three cromlechs and Druidical circles, together with other ancient remains, and with spots of interesting scenery, are not far off,, all on or near an ancient Roman road to Trawsfynydd.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a decayed ancient town"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Llandanwg AP/CP       Merionethshire AncC
Place: Harlech

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