tion of Wales to England. The Black Friars had a house a short distance from the castle in 1268, of which some fragments remain. The ivy is so thick upon the castle that the walls are being injured by its growth, which should be restrained.

At the evening meeting, in the Council Chamber of the Guildhall, Dr. Birch gave a lucid description of the different charters of the town of Conway, so far as they could be deciphered, for many of them are in such a state of decay, owing to past neglect on the part of the corporate authorities, as to be quite unreadable. They are now, however, well cared for, and are framed and glazed. The first charter was granted by Edward I to the burgesses immediately after the conquest of Wales, and it was confirmed, without any variations, by subsequent kings down to Edward VI in 1547. The charter of Edward I made Aberconway a free borough and gave it sundry liberties, thus exempting it from manorial jurisdiction, if any existed in Wales at that period; but the charter preserved one link with the crown by providing that the constable of the king's castle of Conway for the time being should be mayor of the town and conservator of its liberties, many appointments of constables being among the records.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 21ST, 1897.

The party assembled at Conway Station in time for the 9.20 train to Carnarvon.

They were met at the station by Sir Llewelyn Turner, the Deputy Constable of Carnarvon Castle, and under his leadership set out to perambulate the walls of the town previous to entering the castle itself. The site of the original west gate of the town was pointed out, and in that portion of the moat which Sir Llewelyn has excavated he showed the commencement of the castle at the north-east angle. Carnarvon Castle is much larger than any other Welsh castle, and is in a good state of preservation, the repairs that have been carried out. and are now in course of execution having been done with judicious care. All parts of the building are accessible without any danger. It was built by Edward I, together with the town walls. The king promised a charter to the town in the eleventh year of his reign, and as the eleventh year of the reign commenced on March 16th, 1282, the charter was granted in the eleventh year and confirmed in the twelfth, somewhere in the year 1282 or 1283. The story that the castle was built in a year can, of course, apply only to a certain

portion sufficient to afford accommodation for a garrison; but as evidence that such portion of the castle did exist at that date, Sir Llewelyn recited extracts from the roll of wages of the knights and esquires in the Welsh war for the tenth and eleventh years of the king's reign, to be found in the Exchequer Record, Military Service, Wales. Therein it is stated that "in the eleventh year (1283) Thomas Maydenbach and his clerk, being in the fortifications of Carnarvon, received by day 2s., and others in the fortifications." The large sum of £809 3s. 11d., equivalent to over £20,000 of our money, was paid in wages to soldiers, crossbowmen, archers and lancers in the fortificacations of Carnarvon and Criccieth in the eleventh year, that is before the birth of Edward II, and a sum equal to to £2,500 of our money was paid for wages in the fortifications of Carnarvon Castle in the twelfth year, i.e., between November, 1283, and November, 1284. With regard to the tradition, disputed by some recent authorities, that the second Edward was born in the Eagle Tower, Sir Llewelyn declared that the public records as well as the architectural features of the castle bore testimony to the accuracy of the tradition, there being not a particle of evidence to the contrary.

Sir Llewelyn Turner has kindly promised a Paper on the subject of Carnarvon Castle, which we hope to publish in a subsequent issue of this Journal.

From Carnarvon the party took a long but beautiful drive to Clynnog, where Mr. Charles Lynam pointed out the archæological features of the locality. Having visited a holy well by the roadsideSt. Beuno's Well-one of the many holy wells in Wales, with the stone seats for the pilgrims waiting their turn to descend into the the water still remaining, the party returned to the church, which Mr. Lynam described.

The church is a large and fine edifice of late Perpendicular architecture, with a chapel at the south-east end, connected with the church by a covered passage, and said to contain the reputed grave of St. Beuno. The church was collegiate, and there are some good carvings in the stalls and rood-screen. In the vestry is a highly curious old chest, carved out of a solid block of wood, having three locks, and a very fine specimen of a "Mazer" cup, or goblet, of beautifully polished black wood, set in silver-gilt, of probably fifteenthcentury workmanship.

A pair of "lazy tongs", used for dragging dogs out of the church, are also preserved.

Mr. Lynam has kindly promised a Paper on the subject of Clynnog Church, which will be published shortly.

MONDAY, AUGUST 23RD, 1896.

The members and visitors assembled at Conway Station in time for the 9.20 train for Bangor and Beaumaris.

On arrival at the cathedral, they found the Dean ready to welcome them and explain the history of the building. Taking his stand in the choir, the Dean related the early history of the church from its foundation, about 550, by the instrumentality of the Prince of Wales, Maelgwyn Gwynedd. The church was destroyed about 1071, but was rebuilt, and a buttress and window of the early Norman church may still be seen in the south wall of the choir. In the thirteenth century the cathedral was enlarged, but, in common with St. Asaph's and other churches, it suffered greatly in the wars of the time, and in 1402 was destroyed by fire in the war with Owen Glyndwr, when it remained in ruins for nearly a century. The choir was ultimately rebuilt in the reign of Henry VII, and the western tower and nave by Bishop Skeffington in 1532. There are several interesting monuments, one to an early Tudor, date 1365. From the cathedral the visitors passed to the library and muniment room, where the Dean exhibited sundry of the treasures, and in particular a beautifully written book known as the Pontifical of Anian, date 1266, bound up with other service books of the "Bangor use", and a book of "offices that only a Bishop can do". These books belong to the fourteenth century, and have some beautifully illuminated initial letters, etc. Proceeding to the ferry, the party crossed the straits to Beaumaris, where Sir Llewelyn Turner met them and conducted them over the castle. This castle is an

example of a purely concentric fortress. It consists of a long square within an octagonal curtain wall strengthened by thirteen bastions and towers. The moat was fed by the sea, but it has long been filled up, which detracts from the height of the walls. There is very little known in history of this castle. It was built after Conway and Carnarvon, about 1296, by Edward I. Its low-lying situation on the shore is compensated by its accessibility from the sea. It was garrisoned for the King under Lord Bulkeley in 1642, but was obliged to surrender owing to a severe defeat of the Royal forces in the immediate neighbourhood by the Parliamentary General, Mytton. The old church at Beaumaris possesses a rood-screen of late Perpendicular type, similar to several others the party had seen in this district of North Wales; and in a chapel on the north side of the chancel, now used as a vestry, is a fine altar-tomb, with recumbent effigies of a knight and lady of fifteenth-century date, of whom nothing is known. It is