Caernafon, 2006

Description

Aerial photograph showing the town of Caernarfon, taken in 2006.
Caernarfon is a royal town in Gwynedd, northwest Wales and is the traditional county town of the historic county of Caernarfonshire. The town is best known for its great stone castle, built by Edward I. On higher ground above the town remains an earlier occupation, the Segontium Roman Fort. Caernarfon was constituted a borough in 1284 by charter of Edward I. The former municipal borough was designated a royal borough in 1963. The borough was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972, and the status of royal town was granted in 1974. In 1911, David Lloyd George, then Member of Parliament for the borough, conceived the idea of holding the investiture of the new Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle, believing that this would help pacify nationalist opinion whilst arousing a more British patriotic feeling. The ceremony took place on 13 July, with the royal family paying a rare visit to Wales, and the future King Edward VIII was duly invested. On 1 July 1969 the investiture ceremony was again held at Caernarfon Castle, the recipient on this occasion being Charles, Prince of Wales. Demographically the population of Caernarfon is the most Welsh-speaking community in Wales, with 86.1% of the population being able to speak the language in the 2001 Census.