Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/506

 460 Mediceval Militaiy Architecture. Conway, though as strong, is a far less elegant structure than Caernarvon. The masonry, though excellent, is rough uncoursed rubble, and ashlar is very sparingly used. The battlements espe- cially, as at Harlech and Caerphilly, are very bare. They are ill- coped and ill-finished, as though they were intended to be concealed behind a brattice; but, as there are no corbels or places for the struts, this cannot have been intended. The putlog holes show that round instead of square poles were used in the construction ; and here, as at Coucy and in parts of Harlech, they are so placed as to show that the scaffolding was laid as an inclined plane, instead of horizontally, and with ladders. This is also the case with the walls and towers of the town. Conway Castle is retained by the Crown, but has long been let on lease. Lady Erskine, of Cambo, the last lessee, has lately waived her tenure, and the ruins are now held by the Corporation, and seem sufficiently well cared for. Mr. Jones, who has had charge of the place for nearly half a century, is a very careful and intelligent guardian, and well acquainted with the details and history of the castle. Conway was begun in 1285. Soon after its completion, Edward I. and Queen Eleanor spent a Christmas here in great state, when, no doubt, the state apartments were occupied. The town was stormed in 1646 by the Parliamentary general, Mytton, who also secured the castle. Charles II. granted it to Edward, the first Earl of Conway, to grace and give some foundation for his title; but the earl, it is said to annoy the neighbouring gentry, dismantled the castle, and took away the lead, timber and ironwork, broke down the well-stairs, and in other ways injured the structure. The appended bird's-eye view of the town is taken from the highest and most western point, just above Porth-Uchaf, and in full view of Porth-y-felin, below which is the bed of the Gyffin. The position of the castle, on its rocky promontory, resting upon the sea, is well shown. The other view is confined to the castle as seen from the south or the valley of the Gyffin. The four towers on the right mark the angles of the inner ward, the two on the extreme right are the king's tower in front, and behind it the queen's tower. The central and front tower is the dungeon tower, attached to the great hall. On the left are seen the two lines of the town wall, abutting upon the castle, and between them the western platform with its bastions, and in the rear the main gate with the line of machicolations above it. One of the seaward towers shows how the rampart walk is carried round it upon a corbelled or bracketed projection.