History of Caernarfon

By Iolo Griffiths

A history of the town of Caernarfon, from its origins as the Roman fort of Segontium, to Edward I's garrison town, and later a stronghold of the Welsh language

• Language: English
• Publisher: Iolo Griffiths
• Release date: Aug 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386266341

Iolo Griffiths

Iolo Griffiths was brought up in Anglesey, lives in North Wales and has been working for Trinity Mirror North Wales since 1987, firstly as a librarian and then proofreader, and then a journalist. He is now a Community Content Curator for Trinity Mirror North Wales His main interests are genealogy and local history (mainly North West Wales)

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The Romans and Segontium

Although the history of Caernarfon really starts with the foundation of Segontium by the Romans, there was a modest fortified ring enclosure before that, on the crag called Twthill which stands above the town, which was inhabited by he Ordovices, the local Celtic tribe.

The impetus for the foundation of Segontium, the Roman fort which led to our present town of Caernarfon started with an ambush and massacre of a regiment of Roman calvary in summer 77AD by the Ordovices, the Celtic inhabitants of north west Wales. This was a serious military defeat for the Romans, and moreover an encouragement to British resistance to the occupation, so not a matter that the Romans could easily ignore, but the general opinion was that a counter-attack at that time would pose the risk of the Romans finding themselves still fighting in the Welsh mountains during winter.

The new Governor of Britain, Agricola, was very courageous and enterprising, and as soon as he took up his new post in the late summer, he set about reversing this setback by sending his forces into north Wales, and his strategy succeeded. He established a chain of Roman fortresses in Wales, linked to each other by roads, including a very important fort at Segontium, built on the banks of the river Seiont, after which it was named, and near the issue of the river into the Menai Strait.

Segontium was significant as being one of the most westerly outposts of the Roman empire, and lay at the junction of two roads; that from Canovium (Caerhun in the Conwy Valley ), and that from Tomen y Mur, above Ffestiniog, and was therefore an important military and administrative centre for north west Wales.

What we see on the site today is not Agricola's original field fort, since that would have been built largely of wood, but the major administrative centre that succeeded it. In its heyday the fortress was garrisoned by the 20th Augustan Legion, and surrounded by a shanty town inhabited by traders and soldiers’ families.

The fort was designed to accommodate a regiment of infantry up to 1,000 strong, and the site is shaped somewhat like a playing card with defences of earth and timber, symmetrically placed gates and streets, and a fairly standardised arrangement of timber-framed buildings. In terms of location and layout it is a text book example of a Roman military base. One feature of Segontium that is unusual for a fort is the hypocaust, an under-floor heating system.

The importance of Segontium is attested by legends which present a rather distorted account of events. The old Welsh story of The Dream of Prince Macsen, which was written down in around 1300, but certainly composed much earlier, portrays a love affair between the Emperor of Rome and a Welsh princess, with a fanciful explanation of how the Romans came to the banks of the Seiont. In the legend Emperor Macsen dreamt of a woman and a distant castle, and fell in love with her, so he sent messengers all over the world to find her.

At Aber Seiont in Arfon they found a castle and a woman meeting the description, and brought her to him. He married her and settled in Britain. The story tells us that it was this Welsh empress, Helen who instructed that the great forts were to be built with roads to link them. Stretches of the Roman roads across the mountains of North Wales are still called Sarn Helen (Helen’s Causeway ) to this day. It might be a pity to spoil such a beautiful story, but Sarn Helen is just as likely to be a corruption of Sarn y Lleng (causeway of the legion). The fact that the original of the emperor of the legend lived in the late 4th century, while the Roman fort of Segontium had already been built by the end of the 1st century, is another reason why this tale should be enjoyed as a romantic legend rather than believed as a sober historical account.

According to the legend the father of Helen was called Eudaf or Octavius (supposedly Duke of Cornwall), hence Caer Eudaf as another name for the town.

The tale of Macsen says that the emperor left Britain to oust an usurping emperor who had taken his place in Rome. Here too, the legend contains a distorted version of the historical account. Macsen’s original was a Spanish adventurer, who was serving with the army in Britain, and was declared emperor by his soldiers. He took his army to Gaul in 383AD to combat his more legitimate rival. This invasion of Gaul pulled much of the colonising forces out of Britain, and emptied much of the main force at Segontium, though a small garrison remained until about 394, as shown by coins recovered at the site. This long occupation can be explained by the fort’s strategic position, controlling access to the fertile and mineral-rich land of Anglesey, and later its defensive role against Irish raiders and pirates.

Segontium, which lies about half a mile from Caernarfon castle, is now part of the National Museum of Wales group and can be visited free of charge and is one of the best preserved Roman forts in the country. There is a museum on the site with many of the artefacts found.

In the latter days of Segontium, attacks by sea became a greater problem than controlling the natives inland, and a smaller fort was built near the mouth of the Seiont to protect this important landing place. This fort is popularly known today as Henwalia (old walls), and part of it still stands, at the side of South Road.

Caernarfon in the times of the Welsh princes

It would be very easy to think that after the departure of the Romans, Caernarfon ceased to be important until the time of Edward I, but this was clearly not the case. An important administrative centre in a strategic location, near the junction of the river Seiont and the Menai Strait was likely to retain some of that importance in succeeding times.

An old Welsh tale refers to Caernarfon as a king’s seat. Caer Seint yn Arfon is mentioned in the Mabinogi tale of Branwen daughter of Llyr, set down about 1300 but evidently composed much earlier.

The early historic references to the town also attest to its importance. The Sixth century historian Gildas refers to the Saxons making an attack on Caer Segont, burning and pillaging the town, and then hurriedly beating a retreat, before the Welsh had time to assemble to challenge them.

The fortress was soon rebuilt, as in 620 the petty king of North Wales moved his court to Caer Seiont, from Aberffraw where it had been for nearly three centuries.

A ninth century Historia Brittonum mentions Caer Segeint in a list of the 28 cities of Britain, and in about 872, Rhodri ap Merfyn, king of North Wales, moved his court from Caer Segont back to Aberffraw. Many of the early charters and acts granted by the North Wales government were dated from Caer Segont, and some early writers claimed that Edwin, Prince of Northumbria received his military training there.

Giraldus Cambrensis mentions that there was a castle there when he passed through North Wales in 1188, and Llewelyn the Great dated a charter from there in 1221.

The castle referred to by Giraldus was probably a motte and bailey castle built by Hugh Lupus, the Norman Earl of Chester during a brief occupation of Anglesey and Gwynedd at the end of the 11th century, and which later formed part of the castle built by Edward I.

Llanbeblig church

The parish church of the town, Llanbeblig, is about half a mile outside the town on the Beddgelert road,