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Beaumaris - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
BEAUMARIS, a sea-port, borough, market-town, and chapelry, having exclusive jurisdiction, and jointly with Bangor the head of a union, in the parish of Llandegvan, locally in the hundred of Tyndaethwy, county of Anglesey, in North Wales, 8 miles (N. N. E.) from Bangor, and 247 (N. W. by W.) from London; containing 2308 inhabitants. This place, which is the county town of Anglesey, was anciently called Porth Wgyr: it derives its present name from its situation in a fine open flat, formerly marshy, but now a fertile plain, on the western shore of the Menai strait, near its junction with the Irish Sea, where it expands into a good roadstead, called Beaumaris bay. For some centuries prior to the erection of the present town, which owes its origin and progress to the castle built here by Edward I., Beaumaris had attained a considerable degree of importance, and was distinguished as one of the three principal ports of the Isle of Britain. In 818, a sanguinary engagement took place in the immediate neighbourhood, between the Welsh and the West Saxons, the latter led by their king, Egbert, who, having subdued the country as far as Snowdon, took possession of the Isle of Mona, which was henceforward called by the English Angles-ey, or Anglesey, signifying "the Englishmen's Isle." But the Welsh sovereign, Mervyn Vrych, continually on the alert to recover his possessions and repel the invaders, carried on a desultory and successful warfare; and Egbert and his Saxon forces, unable to contend with that valiant chieftain and with the severities of a hard winter, abandoned the island, and returned into their own country.
In 1096, Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, and Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury, entering into a confederacy, carried slaughter and devastation through the whole of North Wales; and, having landed a powerful army at Cadnant, advanced against this town, of which they made themselves masters. To secure their conquests, they erected, in the immediate neighbourhood, the fortress of Lleiniog, or Aberllienawg; by means of which, in conjunction with the castle of Bangor, they commanded the whole of the Menai strait, and reduced the islanders to the lowest state of vassalage and degradation. But their career of usurpation and tyranny was interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Magnus, son of Harold, King of Norway. The landing of this chief was opposed by the confederate earls; but Magnus placing himself on the prow of his ship, and calling to his side an expert archer, both discharged their arrows at the Earl of Shrewsbury, who, in complete armour, was standing on the shore; and an arrow entering his brain through the eye, which was undefended by the vizor of his helmet, he fell dead on the spot. The Earl of Chester was soon afterwards driven from the island, and compelled to retreat to Bangor, where he for some time fixed his abode, carrying on a desultory warfare with the inhabitants of Anglesey, whom he annoyed with frequent aggressions, which led to slight skirmishes.
After this period nothing of historical importance is recorded of the place, till the time of Edward I., who, having reduced the whole of Wales under his authority, and in part erected the splendid castles of Carnarvon and Aberconway, found himself still unable to retain quiet possession of his newlyacquired dominions, and exposed to continual insurrections of the bold and warlike chieftains. The Isle of Anglesey was now the principal rendezvous of all the native chiefs, who, notwithstanding their formal submission to the authority of Edward, were constantly endeavouring to throw off the English yoke. Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, was, indeed, no longer alive to lead his countrymen; but Madoc, his illegitimate son, made this isle the theatre of an insurrection; and Edward saw the impossibility of peace while Anglesey, without an English garrison, afforded such facility for combinations which threatened the stability of his government in Wales. He therefore determined to erect a castle, equal in strength and importance to those which he had previously founded at Carnarvon and Aberconway, and to place in it a formidable garrison, to counteract the efforts of the unsubdued spirit of the Welsh. For this purpose he selected Porth Wgyr, which at that time had acquired the appellation of Bonover; a situation peculiarly adapted to command the island. From the low site on which he built the castle, the king conferred upon it the name of Beaumaris; and the ground being private property, he gave the owners other lands in exchange, of equal or superior value. Its situation on a flat on the sea-shore afforded the opportunity of surrounding the castle with a deep fosse, which might at any time be filled from the sea, and of cutting a canal by which vessels might deliver their cargoes under the very walls.
This fortress was completed in the year 1296, and in the same year Edward incorporated the inhabitants of the town by charter, investing them with valuable and important privileges, and appointing the constable of the castle to be also captain of the town. Most writers state that the town owes its origin to the erection of the castle; but, from reference to the records of the corporation, it appears that it must have attained some degree of importance prior to that era. Probably Edward, who, after the completion of the fortress, surrounded the town with walls and made considerable additions to it as a fortified place, may, from that circumstance, have been regarded as its founder. The first governor appointed to the command was Sir William Pickmore, a Gascon, with an annual salary of forty marks, subsequently increased to £40; and according to the Calendar of the patent rolls in the Tower, published by the commissioners of the public records, the custody of the castle was granted for life, by Richard II., to Gronow ab Tudor. In the reign of Henry IV. it was granted, together with the whole county and dominion of Anglesey, to the renowned Henry Percy, surnamed Hotspur. The garrison, which usually consisted of twenty-four men, was frequently involved in disputes with the inhabitants of the town, and in the reign of Henry VI., a sanguinary conflict took place between them, in which Davydd ab Evan ab Howel and many others were killed. The maintenance of the castle was found extremely burthensome to the country, and, in consequence of continued complaints of the general misconduct of the men, the garrison was withdrawn in the reign of Henry VII., with the exception only of the governor, Sir Rowland Villeville, who was continued in his office of constable of the castle.
From this time the castle was without a garrison, till the year 1642, when Thomas Cheadle, deputy of the Earl of Dorset, then constable, placed in it a body of men and supplies of ammunition, in order to retain possession for the king during the civil war, which now threatened to become general. The year following, Thomas Bulkeley, Esq., soon after created Lord Bulkeley, succeeded to the governorship of the castle; and his son, Col. Bulkeley, and several gentlemen of the county, held it for the king till 1646, when it was surrendered on honourable terms to General Mytton. Charles's subsequent captivity produced, in 1648, together with partial insurrections in other parts of the country, that general revolt of the inhabitants of Anglesey, which is more fully noticed in the article on the county, and which gave rise to the parliamentary expedition for the reduction of the island. As soon as the parliamentary forces, under the command of General Mytton, appeared on Penmaen Mawr, the greatest demonstrations of defiance were made by the inhabitants of this place, by whom they were descried from Beaumaris Green; but, after a slight skirmish near Cadnant with Major Hugh Pennant's troop of horse, General Mytton advanced with his forces, without further opposition, to Orsedd Migin, where they held a rendezvous the morning after their landing, and whence they marched immediately upon Beaumaris, by way of Red Park, drawing up in order of battle upon the hill. The islanders, commanded by Col. Bulkeley and Col. Roger Whitely, drew up in the fields below the hill, assisted by the town's company, commanded by Captain Sanders. The parliamentary forces, beginning the attack, were resolutely repulsed by the town's company, and at the same time charged by the cavalry; but the other infantry on the king's side soon fled in disorder, and the remainder of the royalists being overpowered by numbers, and the town being closely pressed, the islanders were dispersed, and the royalist commanders, with most of the officers, retired into the castle. Captain Lloyd, of Penhênllŷs, who had been ordered to defend the church, locked his men within it, and ran away, taking the key with him; the men, notwithstanding, climbed upon the roof and the steeple, and, firing upon the assailants, killed a considerable number, among whom were three of the parliamentarian officers. General Mytton, having at length entered the town, despatched a messenger to the castle, to demand the persons of Colonels Bulkeley and Whitely, threatening, unless they were given up to him, to put to death all the prisoners he had taken in the course of the day, about four hundred in number. These officers, to prevent the effusion of blood, immediately surrendered themselves, and remained prisoners at the Old Place, in Beaumaris, the seat of the Bulkeley family, till they were ransomed. The garrison, unable to withstand the superior force of the enemy, soon afterwards capitulated on honourable terms; and Mytton, who was appointed governor by the parliament, made Captain Evans his deputy-constable of the castle, and lieutenant-governor of the town.
After the death of General Mytton, the constableship was given to Hugh Courteney, who was succeeded in that office by Colonel John Jones, a zealous puritan, and one of the parliamentary commissioners for the reduction of the island. His successor, Sir John Carter, of Kinmel, in the county of Denbigh, who received his appointment from General Monk, held it till the Restoration, when Viscount Bulkeley, who had been ennobled in reward for his sufferings and attachment to the royal cause, was appointed to that office, which was held by his descendants till the death of the last Viscount Bulkeley, in 1822.
The town consists of several streets, of which that leading to the castle is spacious, and contains some excellent houses. Considerable improvements have been made within the last twenty or thirty years, among which may be noticed the levelling, widening, and paving of the streets, and the erection of several handsome buildings, both in the town and neighbourhood; rendering Beaumaris one of the most elegant towns in the principality. A line of road, leading from Bangor ferry to Beaumaris, was constructed in 1805, by Viscount Bulkeley, which, passing through the woods and plantations of Baron Hill, above the shores of the Menai, and continued for nearly five miles, forms one of the most picturesque drives in the country. This road was thrown open to the public in the following year, and was afterwards extended to the Menai bridge at one extremity, and connected at the other with a new entrance into Beaumaris. The ancient walls by which the town was defended still remain entire in several parts, but on the side towards the sea, a large portion was taken down during the summer of 1831, in order to furnish materials for building a new hotel, and for completing other improvements. In front of the town is the fine open bay called Beaumaris Roads, formed by the bold curvature of the Menai strait, and the shores of which are here composed of a fine, firm, level sand, affording a pleasant promenade, much frequented by the inhabitants. Warm and cold baths have been erected, and bathingmachines are ranged along the beach. The delightful situation of the town, the salubrity of the air, and the numerous objects of grandeur, beauty, and interest, which impart to the surrounding scenery a charming variety, and combine in forming a splendid and richly diversified landscape, have made Beaumaris the favourite residence of many families during the summer season, and contributed to render it one of the most fashionable bathing-places in North Wales. Its advantages are considerably enhanced by its proximity to the Chester and Holyhead railway, to which there is a constant communication, and from which it is distant about five miles. Parties leaving London in the morning will find themselves safely located in this agreeable spot early in the evening, having in their transit passed over a most interesting portion of Wales. The view from the Green here is among the most extensive and magnificent in the principality. It embraces the Irish Sea, the noble estuary of the Menai strait, Beaumaris Roads, the city of Bangor, Port-Penrhyn; the village, church, and waterfall of Aber; the stately castle, park, and grounds of Penrhyn; Puffin Island; Penmon Point; the priory of Penmon, and the friary of Llanvaes; Great Orme's Head, the summit of Penmaen Mawr, and the other stupendous mountains of Carnarvonshire; the castles of Beaumaris and Lleiniog; Baron Hill, with its luxuriant plantations, and numerous other objects, which contribute to enrich and beautify the scene.
A considerable portion of the bay is left dry when the tide is out. This tract, which extends for several miles along the opposite coast, is called the Lavan sands, and is supposed to have been inhabited, prior to its being inundated by an encroachment of the sea, in the sixth century. Its ancient name, Traeth Lavan, or Traeth Wylovain, of which the present is a contraction, signifies "the place of weeping," and seems to have reference to the lamentations of the inhabitants when their lands were overwhelmed. Over these sands is a ferry to Aber, in Carnarvonshire, a distance of four miles. It originally belonged to the crown; and in the reign of Edward II., an order was given to Robert Power, chamberlain of North Wales, to inspect the state of the boat, which was then out of repair, and either to repair it, if practicable, at the expense of the bailiwick, or to build a new boat, at the expense of the king. It appears that the inhabitants paid annually into the Exchequer the sum of thirty shillings, for the privilege of this ferry, which was granted to the corporation by charter of Elizabeth, in the fourth year of her reign. The sands, at low water, are firm, and safely passable on foot; but during certain intervals of the tides, they are extremely hazardous, and consequently great precaution is necessary. The passage may be effected in the interval between two hours before, and two hours after, low water; at other times it is attended with difficulty and danger, and several persons have perished in the attempt. During foggy weather, the great bell of Aber is rung to direct passengers to the point of their destination, from which they would be otherwise in danger of wandering.
The port has jurisdiction over those of Conway, Amlwch, and Holyhead; and other harbours in this part of the principality are creeks within its limits. Its situation is extremely advantageous, but the port carries on but little commerce. Its central position with respect to the whole of North Wales, its intimate connexion with Liverpool and the principal manufacturing districts, and its proximity to the Irish coast, afforded it every facility of extending its trade; but, since the growth and increase of Liverpool, its commercial importance has materially declined, and at present its chief trade arises from the importation of the supplies requisite for this part of the island. The principal articles of importation are coal, timber, and general merchandise; and the chief exports, marble and slates. A regular and expeditious communication by steam-packets has been established between Beaumaris and Liverpool, Carnarvon, and, in the summer months, Dublin. The harbour is accessible, at low water, to vessels of four hundred tons' burthen, and the bay affords good anchorage and secure shelter to vessels during the severest gales. There are many accommodations for facilitating the business of the port; and within the last few years a fine pier has been erected by the town council, for landing passengers and goods from the steamers that ply upon this station: for access to this pier as a promenade, a small sum is required from each person, or general admission for families is issued for an annual subscription. The custom-house, which is situated near the water's edge, is a new and commodious building. The market, which is abundantly supplied with corn and provisions, at a very moderate price, is held on Saturday; and four fairs for cattle and various articles of general merchandise, are held annually on February 13th, Holy-Thursday, September 19th, and December 19th. About a mile from the town is a quarry of hard stone called China rock, which is not at present wrought, but from which great quantities have been raised and shipped to Whitehaven, Runcorn, and other parts, to be converted into chinaware.
The inhabitants received their first charter of incorporation in the same year in which the castle was completed, from Edward I., who conferred upon them considerable privileges, and assigned to the corporation the estates of four of the principal proprietors of land, whom he removed by exchange, on the erection of the castle; the estates to be held by them in capite. Among various immunities, he granted them permission to elect two bailiffs every year on the feast of St. Michael, liberty to have a free prison, and a guild of merchandise with a hanse, and freedom from toll and custom throughout the dominions of the crown, with descent of property to their heirs, whether they died testate or intestate. The charter of Edward I. was confirmed by the crown in the 5th of Edward III., 2nd of Richard II., 9th of Henry IV. (a charter by Henry, Prince of Wales), 4th of Henry VI., 8th of Edward IV., 1st of Richard III., 18th of Henry VII., 1st of Henry VIII., and 1st of Edward VI. It was extended, also, by Queen Elizabeth, whose charter continued to be the governing one till the passing of the Municipal Corporations' Act.
By this charter the corporation was permitted to assume the title of "the Mayor, Bayliffes, and Burgesses of the burrough of Bewmares," and the government was vested in a mayor, two bailiffs, a recorder, coroner, town-clerk, two serjeants-at-mace, a water-bailiff, a clerk of the market, two burleighmen, six constables, two town-stewards, two sidesmen, and twenty-one chief burgesses and councillors. The mayor, who was chosen annually by the late mayor, the bailiffs, and the head burgesses, was, like the bailiffs and the recorder, a justice of the peace; he was also the presiding magistrate at the court of quarter-sessions, and one of the justices empowered by the charter to hear and determine pleas at the civil court of record. The bailiffs, recorder, coroner, town-clerk, treasurer, and the inferior officers, were appointed in a similar manner to the mayor; the town-stewards, and their sidesmen, were chosen by the borough magistrates; and the twenty-one chief burgesses themselves filled up any vacancies that occurred in their body either by death or removal. The mayor, bailiffs, and chief burgesses possessed the amplest powers for the enactment of bye-laws and the enforcement of their authority, and also had the liberty, according to the charter of Elizabeth, of returning a member to serve in parliament. The police consisted of the two serjeants-at-mace, and six constables.
By the act 5th and 6th of William IV. c. 76, the old charters were repealed and annulled, and the corporation, under the style of "Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses," now consists of a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors, constituting the council of the borough. The council elect the mayor annually on November 9th, out of the aldermen or councillors; and the aldermen triennially on November 9th, out of the councillors, or persons qualified as such, one-half going out of office every three years, but being re-eligible: the councillors are chosen annually on November 1st, by and from among the enrolled burgesses, one-third going out of office every year. Aldermen and councillors must possess a property qualification of £500, or be rated at £15 annual value. The burgesses are, the occupiers of houses and shops who have been rated for three years to the relief of the poor. The council choose a townclerk, treasurer, and other officers annually on Nov. 9th; and two auditors and two assessors are elected on March 1st, by and from among the burgesses. The limits of the borough comprehend the chapelry of Beaumaris, and parts of six other places, stretching inland to the north-west about two miles, along the shore to the north-east about a mile and a half, and to the south-west above a mile. The chapelry comprises 327 acres, chiefly consisting of pasture land.
The corporation are lords of the manor by virtue of a grant by Queen Elizabeth, recorded in her charter, of the borough and other ample possessions, comprising, besides much property of undefined extent, lands of the specified extent of above 1556 acres, which yielded at that early period a considerable rent, but of which the only remnant at the present day consists of a field containing about eighteen acres, and a few small portions of waste near the town. The grant was principally made with a view of affording to the inhabitants the means of repairing the walls and sea-defences of their town, which had by floods and tempests been much injured; but there does not appear to be any trace of the erection of a pier or the execution of other renovations. The income of the borough for the year 1833 amounted to £556. It was principally derived from the rents of houses, and was subject to a payment of about £190, being the interest of a debt of £4200, incurred by the corporation mainly by the erection of some handsome and substantial houses upon the Green, at a cost of £4475.
The elective franchise was conferred in the 27th of Henry VIII., and the first return was made in the 33d of the same reign, in conjunction with Newborough, to which town the assizes and sessions for the county had been removed in the reign of Henry VII., upon a false representation to this monarch, after having been held at Beaumaris for 250 years. In the 2nd of Edward VI., Newborough was exempted from contributing to the support of the parliamentary representative, the privilege thus becoming limited to Beaumaris; and by statutes of the 2nd and 3d of the same monarch, the great and quarter-sessions, together with the county court for Anglesey, were removed back to this town, after they had been held at Newborough for forty-five years. The burgesses of Newborough, nevertheless, still claimed a share in the return of the member for Beaumaris, which, however, they do not seem to have exercised. In 1790, it was decided by the House of Commons, that the right was in the mayor, bailiffs, and capital burgesses of Beaumaris only. By the act for "Amending the representation of the people in England and Wales," passed in 1832, the newly-created boroughs of Amlwch, Holyhead, and Llangevni now share with Beaumaris in the return of one member to parliament. The right of election is vested in every male person of full age occupying, either as owner, or as tenant under the same landlord, a house or other premises of the annual value of not less than ten pounds, providing he be capable of registering as the act demands. There are, within the town, about one hundred and ten houses of the annual value of not less than ten pounds, and some more within the out-borough of Beaumaris, of which the commissioners appointed about the time of the Reform act, for ascertaining the boundaries of boroughs, were unable to obtain the exact number. The total number of voters, including the contributory boroughs, is about 350; and the mayor is the returning officer.
The town-hall, erected in 1790, and situated in Castle-street, nearly in the centre of the town, is a commodious and handsome building, containing on the basement story the public office, shambles, and market-house, above which are a noble room and other apartments, appropriated to the borough sessions and the transaction of municipal business, and occasionally to the holding of assemblies: the great room is the most splendid ball-room in North Wales. Since the decline of Newborough, Beaumaris has been the county town of Anglesey, as it more anciently was; and the assizes and general quarter-sessions for the county, and the election of knights for the shire, still take place here. The county-hall, erected in 1614, is a small edifice without any pretensions to architectural character, but recently much improved in its adaptation to the holding of the assizes and sessions, and the transaction of the public business of the county. The borough gaol, and house of correction for the county, forming one large building, erected in the year 1828, comprise twenty-three wards, six day-rooms, and six airingyards; but the number of prisoners tried at the assizes and sessions is very inconsiderable, not amounting to more than four or five annually.
The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the rectory of Llandegvan. The chapel, dedicated to St. Mary, is a spacious structure in the decorated and later styles, embellished in 1825 at a considerable expense, and comprising a nave, chancel, and north and south aisles, with a lofty square embattled tower crowned with crocketed pinnacles. It measures, in the nave, sixty-eight feet by fifty, and in the chancel, forty-two by twenty-two. Each of the aisles is separated from the nave by an elegant range of lofty clustered columns and gracefully pointed arches; the windows of the chancel have round arches: the east window is of elaborate design, and the roof of the chapel is formed of richly-carved oak. The north aisle is called St. Mary's chapel, and the south St. Nicholas'. In the former is a very handsome statue of the late Mrs. Williams Bulkeley, daughter of Lord Dinorben, who died in 1829, the year before the succession of her husband, R. B. Williams Bulkeley, Esq., to the baronetcy. In the vestry is a beautiful altar-tomb, bearing recumbent figures of a knight and his lady, in white alabaster, removed from the priory of Llanvaes, on the dissolution of that house, and placed in St. Mary's chapel here, whence it was removed some years ago to its present position: the tomb is decorated with diminutive figures of monks and knights, finely sculptured, and with shields of armorial bearings; but the latter are so obliterated, that they afford no means of ascertaining the persons whose memory the tomb was intended to perpetuate. On the south side of the altar is a tablet to the memory of Sir Henry Sidney, Lord-Deputy of Ireland, who died in 1586; Sir Anthony St. Leger, also Lord-Deputy, and others: and above it is a mural monument, of black marble, in memory of Thomas, sixth son of Sir Julius Cæsar, Master of the Rolls, who was rector of Llanrhyddlad, in this county, and died in 1632. Near the castle was situated an ancient chapel or oratory, dedicated to St. Meugan, of which no vestiges remain. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists.
The Free Grammar school was founded in 1609, by David Hughes, of Woodrising, in the county of Norfolk, who gave a house which he had lately built at Beaumaris, for the use of a grammar school, and endowed it with all his lands in the county of Anglesey, for the payment of the master and usher, for the maintenance of the scholars, and for keeping the building in repair. He directed his trustees to appropriate the surplus in placing one or two of the scholars in either of the universities of Oxford or Cambridge, and in erecting an almshouse for eight persons, three to be chosen from the parish of Llantrisaint, where the founder was born, two from that of Ceidio, two from that of Llêchcynvarwydd, and one from the chapelry of Gwredog. After providing for these, if any thing remained, the founder directed that it should be distributed among the poor of Llantrisaint. The founder's intentions respecting the forwarding of boys to the university, with other regulations, were carried into effect by the trustees, who paid £20 with every scholar that entered there, and also apprenticed several others, according to the state of the funds, till the year 1826, when the affairs of the charity were carried into the Court of Chancery, and the exhibitions and apprentice-fees were for some years suspended. The present income of the estates is about £700 per annum, out of which the master's salary of £100, the usher's of £70, and the writing-master's of £21, are paid. The master has a residence free of rent and taxes, as has also the usher; the head master also receives £10 per annum, and the usher £5, from the fund of the benevolent Dr. Lewis's extensive charities. There are about twenty-five boys, who are all instructed in the classics, and in writing and arithmetic, except six, who are allowed to receive elementary instruction in English only, in consideration of their inability to afford books for the classics. The scholars are eligible to one of two fellowships founded in Jesus' College, Oxford, by Dr. Henry Rowlands, Bishop of Bangor, in 1616; to certain exhibitions, of £10 per annum each for four years, founded by Dr. Lewis; and to others founded by Dr. Meyrick, in Jesus' College. The almshouse, consisting of eight rooms under one roof, is of quadrangular form, with an archway leading into the interior, and having a stone placed over it marked "D. H. 1613;" the building is situated in the parish of Llanvaes, about a mile from the town of Beaumaris. The almsmen each receive an allowance of six shillings a week, five pounds of beef at Christmas, and six yards of frieze annually on St. Thomas's day; the whole provided out of the endowment assigned by David Hughes for a grammar school and almshouse, &c.
A National school was founded in 1816, the schoolrooms, with the house for the master and mistress, being built by subscription, at an expense of £550, on a plot of ground given by the late Lord Bulkeley, by whom, during his lordship's lifetime, the school was chiefly supported. Since his decease in 1822, it has been chiefly maintained by voluntary contributions, the principal of which at present is an annual donation of £30 by Sir R. B. Williams Bulkeley, Bart. It is conducted in a most praiseworthy manner, and affords instruction to about eighty boys and sixtyfive girls, each of whom pays one penny a week. There are also three Sunday schools in the town, taught gratuitously by dissenters.
The other charities comprise a bequest of a rentcharge of £2. 12. by Lewis Owen, of Middlesex, in 1623, which is distributed in bread on Sundays; two benefactions for a similar purpose amounting to £1.6. per annum, by Ellen Nicholas and Tabora the Black, in 1736 and 1743 respectively; and a like distribution of bread on Christmas eve, to the amount of £3. 10., arising from a gift of £20 by George Robinson, £20 from Lucy Morris, of London, in 1799, £20 from T. Cross, and £5 each by two other persons. Elizabeth Gould, in 1780, bequeathed £50, the interest to be annually divided among aged widows, decayed housekeepers of Beaumaris: this sum is secured by the payment of a rentcharge of fifty shillings, out of a house built by the corporation with this and other funds of their own. John de Courcy, Esq., of Dublin, in 1820, bequeathed £30 for the use of the poor, which is lodged in the Anglesey savings' bank, and the interest, £1, is distributed among them. Mary Roberts, in 1804, left £10; Mrs. Jones, of the Green, a similar sum; and there are two rent-charges, one of £1 by Rice Price in 1782, and the other of 8s. on Plâs Gwŷn; the produce of all which is disposed of in like manner. Lastly, William Hughes, in 1833, bequeathed £15, which is deposited in the savings' bank at Carnarvon, and the interest divided in the proportion of two-thirds among poor aged females, and one-third among aged men. Of the benevolent societies formed in the town, the most remarkable for the extent of its benefactions is the Society of Ancient Druids, established in 1772, and patronised by many of the principal nobility, clergy, and gentry of the neighbourhood. It consists of an Arch-Druid and Sub-Druid, annually elected, and an unlimited number of brethren, who celebrate their anniversaries in September, and upon those occasions vote various sums of money for benevolent purposes. The principal of these are donations to the hospitals, infirmaries, and dispensaries in the neighbouring counties both of Wales and England; premiums for apprenticing poor boys; and rewards for humane and meritorious exertions in saving from destruction the lives and property of shipwrecked seamen.
The site and remains of the once important castle of Beaumaris were purchased from the crown in 1816, and are now the property of Sir Richard B. Williams Bulkeley, who has made great improvements in the grounds, by laying out walks, plantations, and shrubberies, and has thrown them open to the public as a promenade. The splendid remains of the castle, though less conspicuous from the lowness of their situation than those of Carnarvon and Conway Castles, prove that it was scarcely inferior in beauty and extent to either of those structures. It consisted of two courts, the outer comprehending a spacious quadrilateral area defended by fourteen circular towers, of which those at the angles are much larger than the rest, and having the principal entrance towards the sea, flanked by two strong round towers, between which is a pointed archway with a portcullis. Near this entrance is a long, narrow, advanced work, with a platform, called the Gunners' Walk, which was carried over the moat by a lofty arch, still remaining, and near which is one of the iron rings anciently used for mooring the vessels that delivered their supplies under the castle walls. Within the outer wall, and equidistant from it in every part, is the inner quadrangle, 190 feet in length and nearly the same in breadth, surrounded by the chief range of buildings, which are much loftier than those of the outer court, and defended by ten circular towers, of which those at the angles are in nearly a perfect state, being more massive than those in the centre. In this quadrangle are the principal state apartments. On the north-west side is the great hall, seventy feet in length and twentyfour in width, of lofty dimensions, and lighted by a noble range of five windows, embellished with tracery. To the east is the chapel, an elegant structure in the early style of English architecture, nearly perfect. Its roof is elaborately groined, and supported on arched ribs, springing from clustered pilasters richly ornamented. The walls are embellished with a series of twenty-one canopied niches, between which are lancet-shaped windows of peculiar delicacy, and behind them are recesses in the thickness of the walls, probably appropriated to the principal officers of the garrison, or to persons of rank residing at the castle. A narrow corridor, formed in the walls, is carried nearly round the whole building, with the exception of the north-west side, affording communication with the principal state apartments, which, though not equal in splendour to those of Carnarvon and Conway, display abundant evidence of departed grandeur. Within the area are a tennis-court and a bowling-green, open to the public; and the pleasantness of the situation, and the taste with which the grounds have been laid out, render the place a favourite resort of the inhabitants. In August, 1832, a congress of bards, or royal eisteddvod, was held in the inner quadrangle of the castle, under the patronage of Sir Richard Bulkeley; it was attended by most of the gentry of the neighbouring counties, and honoured with the presence of Her Majesty, then Princess Victoria, and Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, who had been residing in the neighbourhood during the summer months.
Baron Hill, the seat of Sir R. B. Williams Bulkeley, was originally built in 1618, by Sir Richard Bulkeley, a distinguished personage in the reign of James I., and was much enlarged and improved by its late possessor, under the superintendence of Mr. Samuel Wyatt, architect. The house is beautifully situated on an eminence above the town, to which it is open in the front; it has an extensive lawn, and is sheltered in the rear and on each side by woods of luxuriant foliage. The view from the mansion is justly esteemed one of the finest in the principality, extending over the bay of Beaumaris with the grand opening of the Menai strait, bounded by a noble range of rocks and mountains, rising in the form of a vast amphitheatre, and including some of the principal mountains of Snowdon, whose summits of varied form soar in romantic grandeur above the surrounding heights, and whose verdant and well-cultivated bases slope gradually to the margin of the water. The great promontory of Penmaen Mawr, and the vast rock of Llandudno, or the Great Orme's Head, of barren and rugged aspect, form a striking contrast to the milder features of the scenery in the neighbourhood of Baron Hill, and aid in producing that variety which constitutes its superior beauty. Within the grounds is the stone coffin in which the Princess Joan, daughter of King John, and wife of Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, was interred in the priory of Llanvaes. This relic, on the dissolution of that establishment, was removed, and, after lying neglected on a farm near the spot for many years, was bought by the late Lord Bulkeley, and placed under a temple which that nobleman erected in the park, in honour of her memory. The covering slab of the coffin is of very elegant workmanship, bearing a semi-effigy of the princess, peculiar for the head-dress and ornament of the neck, and especially for having the hands lying open on the breast, towards the spectator. The lower part of the slab is filled with beautiful foliated branches, exactly corresponding in style with the illuminated manuscripts of the period: the stem is seized by the mouth of a winged dragon. An engraving of this early monumental effigy is given in the Archæologia Cambrensis.
Among the other seats in the neighbourhood may be enumerated Red Hill, the Friary, Plâs Llangoed, Cadnant, and Hênllŷs, anciently the seat of Gweirydd ab Rhŷs Gôch, one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales, and of his posterity until the conquest of Wales by Edward I., who removed them to Bôdlewyddan, in the county of Flint, by an exchange of property, granting the estates belonging to them and other freeholders to the corporation.
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