Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for DIGANWY

DIGANWY, an ancient castle in the detached part of Carnarvonshire; at the mouth of the river Conway, 2 miles S of Llandudno. Its site is thought by Camden to have been occupied by the Roman Dictis; which other antiquaries suppose to have been in the vicinity of Ambleside. The old English historians called the place Gannoe, while the Welsh called it Dinas-Gonwy, signifying the "fort of the Conway, " and corrupted into Diganwy. An early fort here is said to have been destroyed by lightning in 810; and the subsequent castle is thought to have been erected about the time of the Norman conquest. Prince Elpin was confined here by his uncle Maengwyn; King John and Henry III. took refuge at it, under distress by the Welsh; and Edward I. destroyed the castle at the time of his building that of Conway. Only small fragments of the pile now remain; but a neighbouring modern mansion bears its name. Mrs. Hemans wrote here her poem entitled the "Ruin and its Flowers." A station on the Llandudno railway, of the name of Diganwy, is near the castle.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "an ancient castle"   (ADL Feature Type: "fortifications")
Administrative units: Caernarvonshire AncC
Place: Deganwy

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