The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 2Finden, W. (William)
History
The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 2
Finden, W. (William)
Coasts -- Great Britain -- Pictorial works; Great Britain -- Pictorial works
Within the walls this ancient town is intersected by ten streets,
crossing each other at right-angles, which, at various points, fix the
stranger's attention by those features and recollections of "other
times" with which they are so closely associated. Of these, the main or
high street runs from the land to the Water-gate, and is a very fair
specimen of that architecture which characterises almost all town
buildings of the feudal period. Beyond the walls the town assumes a very
different character; elegance, taste, and comfort, and those features
which mark the progress of art and refinement, are brought into
immediate view; while numerous cottages, and several villas of handsome
design and finely situated, throw an air of luxury and domestic comfort
over the rural suburbs, the natural character of which is highly
favourable to buildings of this description. The town is well paved,
lighted with gas, and abundantly supplied with water.
The Port of Caernarvon has accommodation for shipping not exceeding four
hundred tons burden, and is frequented by a great number of vessels in
the coasting-trade, as well as by others in connexion with London,
Liverpool, Glasgow, Dublin, Cork, Bristol, and various port-towns in the
United Kingdom. The principal exports consist of slate and copper-ore,
the inland transport of which has been greatly facilitated since the
construction of the railway. The imports are chiefly colonial produce,
Birmingham and Manchester goods, and various articles of
home-consumption from the London markets. The quay and harbour of
Caernarvon, which formerly presented serious obstacles to the shipping
interest on account of the _bar_ at the entrance, have been so improved
that the danger, if not entirely removed, is at least so far diminished
as to excite little apprehension for the safety of the ordinary craft in
connexion with this port. To defray the expense of these public works,
Government has levied additional port-dues; and it is much to be wished
that, in all other harbours of difficult or dangerous access, the same
advantages could be obtained on similar conditions.
The town is now, agreeably to the Municipal Act, divided into two wards,
and governed by a mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen councillors. In
addition to the picturesque civic retreats already alluded to, as giving
so much animation to the native scenery, the neighbourhood is
embellished with the baronial seats of the Marquess of Anglesey, Lord
Boston, and Lord Newborough. The ruins of Segontium, several Roman
stations, part of a military road, and a considerable number of
primitive domestic edifices, are among the chief objects of antiquity
which deserve the attention of visiters to this neighbourhood.
[Illustration: HARLECH CASTLE.]
HARLECH CASTLE,
NORTH WALES.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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