Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/333

 MedicBval Military Architecture. 309 CAERNARVON CASTLE. OF the three greatest military works executed by Edward I. in Wales, Caernarvon is undoubtedly the chief ; nor, indeed, is there any castle in Britain laid out with greater uniformity of design, or in which the resources of the military engineer are more skilfully set forth. Moreover, it has suffered less than any other of equal magnitude from violence, or natural decay, or the rapacity of local builders. Its towers, walls, and gatehouses, stand as firm and free from injury as when they came from the hand of the mason. Floors and roofs, indeed, have been removed, and the interior lodgings, hall, and chapel, are wanting, but their removal, if it took place, has been effected with so much care that it is uncertain whether they were ever erected, and whether the toothings and roughnesses of the contiguous walls were not left with a view to their addition. In these latest days the Crown, always the owner of the pile, has shown unusual zeal for its conservation. Mr. Salvin, than whom no man could more skilfully restore an ancient castle, was consulted upon its necessary repairs, and Mr. Turner, as deputy-constable, watches over the fabric with no common care. The castle and town of Caernarvon are placed upon the right or northern bank of the Seiont, a river known to fame by the construc- tion upon its meadow of the Roman Segontium, at no great distance above the castle, which, with the town, stands within the junction of the river with the waters of the Menai Strait, so that two sides of the position are protected, the one by the river, the other by the sea. Segontium, or Caer Seiont, seems to have been succeeded by the Welsh camp of Caer-yn-Arvon, so called from its position upon the shore of Arvon, no longer "dreary Arvon," but one of the most charming spots in North Wales. The town, founded, with the castle, by King Edward, is some- what of a parallelogram in plan. It is contained within a curtain wall, strengthened by ten towers, of which two form the east and west gatehouses, and three cap the principal angles of the enclosure. They are either cylindrical or half cylinders, open at the rear. The south end of the area is closed by the castle, of which the principal face is thus towards and within the town. The opposite or southern face rests upon the Seiont, as does the western, and did, to some extent, the eastern end. Wilson's picture, taken in the last century, shows the walls rising almost from the water's edge, and the cross ditch before the Queen's Gate still open, but at this time a broad quay intervenes between the castle walls and the river, and of the broad and deep ditch separating the fortress from the town only a part remains. The ditch was, probably, deep enough to admit the tidal waters. The castle somewhat resembles an hourglass in plan, its outline!