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400th Anniversary

2010 marks the 400^th anniversary of when our town was mapped out by John Speed in 1610.

On the map above you will notice how some place names have stayed the same e.g. Pount Prith refers to Pont Pridd, or Bridge Street today.  Others, such as Llanvore Lane are now known as Bangor Road.  You will notice from the map that by 1610 the town was expanding outwards along Llanvore Lane and Lane Peblicke (Pool Street), which would of course connect the town to Llanbeblig Church.

One of the features of our exhibition in 2000 highlighted the development of the town and the old place-names, including some of these ‘lost’ landmarks in the town:

C. Pricky sethy – in medieval and Tudor times, this was the area where long bow archery practice and training took place at the order of the Crown.  The target butts were placed below the summit of Twthill.

I. Conduite – this was the location of the old town’s original source of fresh water, hand pumped from below ground into a stone trough.  This was demolished after the town’s worse cholera epidemic in 1866

P. Oatmeal market – this was the site of Caernarfon’s market in 1610.  Originally situated near the conduit, it sold wheat, barley, oatmeal, turf (hence its later name) as well as cattle.  This market would later move to a location near ‘gypsy hill’ before finally settling on Y Maes in Victorian times.

V. The Echeckquer – this was the main gateway into the old town.  Above the archway was situated the exchequer rooms where from King Edward II’s time all the revenue, taxes and tolls were collected by the king’s agents from Anglesey, Conwy and Gwynedd and paid to the King.  The Echeckquer connected the old town’s main gateway by medieval drawbridge to the Barbican.  This lay on top of the stone arched bridge that is still in site below East gate Street.  On the Tanybont side of the bridge is situated the smallest chapel in Wales, which at the time was used as an overnight lock-up for vagrants and drunks.

For further information see town guide books i.e. ‘Within Old Caernarfon’s Town Walls’ and ‘Old Carnarvon – Outside the Town Walls’.  All available from local tourist and book shops in Caernarfon.