From the copy of the Chronicle of St. Werburgh, the original of which is in the Library at Mostyn, and has recently been printed by the Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society, I find that in 1228 appears the following entry: "Also Llewelin (Prince of Wales) took his son Griffin, and imprisoned him in the Castle of Deganwy, in Wales."

In 1245, Deganwy was again visited by a royal army. King Henry III attempted the subjugation of Wales. The English Parliament granted him all the necessary supplies, but he was unable to get beyond Deganwy, and having stayed there some ten weeks, his immense army of English and Gascons endured great privations, the details of which are given by Matthew of Paris, who says that "the scarcity of provisions was so great that there remained but one hogshead of wine in the whole army, a bushel of corn being sold for twenty shillings, a fed ox for three or four marks, and a hen for eightpence, so that there happened a very lamentable mortality both of man and horse, for want of necessary sustenance of life."

The King was compelled to retreat without having gained the least advantage over the Welsh.

In 1258 the King again came to Deganwy with a large army, but Llewelin ap Griffith, who by this time had succeeded as Prince, compelled him to retreat with great loss.

Soon after this, viz., in 1263, Llewelyn ap Griffith took Deganwy Castle and totally demolished it. My copy of St. Werburgh's Chronicle, which I have already referred to, has the following entry, which gives us the exact date when the castle was surrendered to Llewelyn : 1263 The day before the Feast of St. Michael (September 28) the chief servants of the Lord Edward, degenerate and unwarlike men, surrendered the Castle of Gannock (Deganwy) to Llewelin."

The castle, at the time, as will be seen by this entry, was in the hands of Prince Edward (afterwards King Edward I), and the King, his father, at once sent him to Conway, but he was almost immediately afterwards recalled.

Soon after his accession to the throne, King Edward came to Conway with a large army, when a peace was concluded with Llewelyn. In 1282 war was again declared between King Edward and Llewelyn ap Griffith.

As previously stated, the King made Rhuddlan his headquarters. From there he advanced with his army to Conway. Llewelyn was killed, and Wales annexed to England. Then it was that Edward completed the rebuilding of Conway Castle, and having removed the abbey from the town higher up into the Vale of Conway, surrounded the town with walls, making use, it is said, of the materials found at the ruins of the old Norman Castle at Deganwy for this purpose.

Nearly all the stones above ground of the old ruin have been taken away, but most of the foundations still remain.

Such is the short history of Deganwy. Now, as to the remains that are to be found. Faint traces seem to remain of the old city. Two lines of great stones set some distance apart, and of irregular curved line, extend north and south of the castle, and are of the character used in British work, the intervening space consisting of similar stones, the earthen embankment having disappeared owing to cultivation. These mark the limits of the town. The ditches of the castle on the north and south, enclosing a space between two hills, are also a mode of defence, however, common in British works; and as some walls of the castle deviate from their line, and leave part of the ditch within the walls, it seems likely that they were adopted by the builders of the castle.

It is also significant, though not conclusive, that the northern vallum appears never to have carried any masonry between the two hills. So far as present remains exist, it would appear that the British fortress only occupied the space between the two hills, with a few trenches on the lower ground.

The castle itself consists of three parts. That which was probably the earlier Norman was set on the larger hill, the British entrenchments being in the hollow. This would probably form its outer bailey.

The great central courtyard lay between the hills and

the defences of the smaller hill. The first and last could be separately held, but the courtyard was untenable by an enemy, or by any force in possession of either of the two hills.

The works on the great hill constitute in themselves a complete castle. On the highest point towards the west was the square keep, with two apartments running eastwards, and enclosed by a separate wall, to which the great excavation in the centre of the rock formed a ditch, and at the same time a reservoir for the supply of water.

A wall, with a tower, and an outer ditch and vallum, were carried along the eastern face of the rock, over the courtyard, and joined a group of buildings on the northern side of the rock. The western precipitous face had also a curtain wall, and probably a stockaded parapet on the verge of the rock "outside it", as there is a roadway external to the curtain instead of a ditch.

It is likely that the entrenchments only existed with the Norman castle, and that the masonry (except in that of the keep and gateways) is later work. A semi-circular bastion on the inner face of the keep group of buildings is certainly a later addition. This part of the castle was approached by a gatehouse from the courtyard that defended a winding road round the northern and western flanks of the rock, passing another gatehouse on a rock below the keep, and reaching a third gatehouse on the west of the keep group of buildings and leading into

them.

Beyond this the road was external to the curtain, and passed to a postern in the north and north-eastern group. This probably contained the quarters for the garrison; the easternmost room (which orientates fairly well) may have been the chapel. This part of the castle is interesting, inasmuch as it is built across a gorge in the rock, which it closes with a lofty wall.

The lesser hill has for its central defence a bastion, occupying the narrow summit, having a semi-circular face to the east, and being oblong in shape to the west. It was divided by a longitudinal wall.

The northern ditch and rampart formed a second line of defence; they curve round to the east, and meet a

similar defence to the south and south-east, which is a prolongation of the curtain of the central court.

A cross curtain wall divided this hill from the courtyard. Presumably there was a gatehouse at the northwest corner, leading to the summit of the lesser hill. This wall and certain buildings adjoining it in the court are now mere heaps of rubbish.

The central courtyard was entered by a gatehouse on each side, each consisting of a square tower with a circular bastion. The north side of this court was bounded by an earlier rampart, doubtless stockaded.

On the south a long masonry curtain stretches from the greater to the lesser rock against this (west of the gate) has been a long building with a cellar.

This completes the plan of the castle, which was somewhat intricate, and had evidently been built with enormous labour.

The castle has many weak points as a place of defence ; difficult ground is not always strong ground.

The failure of Henry's campaign was greatly due to the choice of inefficient military sites; while the success of Edward was greatly aided by good judgment in this respect.

The capture of the castle was evidently made exactly at the weakest points; the walls have been undermined and thrown down in great masses.

The rest of the buildings have been differently treated, and the tradition that the materials were taken to Conway is corroborated by the fact that the walls were deliberately taken down to a few feet above the ground, and not overthrown like the gatehouse and the keep; also from the fact that the north-east corner of the town walls of Conway, and the destroyed water-tower, were built of similar materials to those to be found at Deganwy.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I will conclude by repeating the cordial welcome which it gives me great pleasure to offer to the members of the British Archæological Association, on behalf of the inhabitants of Conway and the neighbourhood, and to assure them that we shall look with interest for instructive papers which they are doubtless prepared to read before us.