Llanrwst
sits in the beautiful Conwy Valley reached either along the A470 or across
the River Conwy from Trefriw.
It is no longer the only bridging point of the river Conwy, yet it still
wears an air of importance as the market town for the Conwy Valley. Pont
Fawr, the steep and elegant stone bridge designed by Inigo Jones, is however
still the town's focal point. The 16th century bridge is so narrow as to
allow single file traffic only, thus causing many a heated argument at the
top of the bridge and bringing a new meaning to the words "cross over
the bridge".
Inigo Jones also designed another of Llanrwst's memorable buildings the
17th century Gwydir Chapel which houses one of Wales' most important historic
artifacts. The Chapel is to be found down a narrow street, past the restored
row of Almshouses, in the grounds of St Grwst's Church, which overlooks
the river Conwy on the town bank of  the
river. The Chapel was built for the powerful Wynne family, whose home was
just across the river at Gwydir Castle, and it contains a massive stone
coffin, the remaining half of the sarcophagus in which Llywelyn
the Great's body was layed to rest. Magnificent portrait brasses and
an effigy of a knight in armour accompany the old cold empty coffin.
Adjacent to Pont Fawr this time on the western bank of the Conwy is probably
the most photographed building in Llanrwst a 15th century cottage, Ty Hwnt
i'r Bont, once a courthouse and now a tea room owned by the National Trust.
You may be tempted to enter and enjoy a cream tea, or to have a picnic on
the banks of the Conwy and feed the ducks. On this side of the river you
will also find the Llanrwst sports fields which when nature chooses become
Llanrwst's water sports fields as the Conwy can flood at the blink of mother
nature's tear filled eye.
Still on the west bank but wisely set further back from the river stands
Gwydir Castle, for centuries the seat of the aforesaid influential Wynn
family. The house has a fine sequence of Tudor rooms, though much of the
house was rebuilt in the 19th century. The current owners are undertaking
an extensive programme to restore Gwydir Castle to its former glory, and
have recently obtained the panelling from the Dining Room which left Gwydir
in the 1920's and was discovered in store in New York.
Back over the bridge and into Ancaster Square and you will find, as with
all market towns, an abundance of pubs. Many are ancient coaching inns,
and a fair number retain their character as well as the Welsh language,
especially when the farmers descend on the town on the beast market days.
Accommodation can be found in a small number of hotels within the town and
a number of holiday cottages, again either in the town or more likely in
the smaller villages of the Conwy Valley or on the hillsides surrounding
the town.
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