Editing Conwy (section)

==History==
[[File:(Castle and suspension bridge, Conway (i.e. Conwy), Wales) (LOC) (3752435594).jpg|thumb|"Castle and suspension bridge", {{circa|1890–1900}}.]]

===Castle and town walls===
[[File:Conwy walled town.jpg|thumb|A view of the original walled town, from one of the towers of [[Conwy town walls|town walls]].|alt=]] 
[[Conwy Castle]] and [[Conwy town walls|the town walls]] were built, on the instructions of [[Edward I of England]], between 1283 and 1289, as part of his conquest of the [[principality of Wales]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Conwy Castle Facts and Information|url=http://historykids.net/history/conwy-castle-facts-and-information/|website=History for Kids}}</ref> The church standing in Conwy has been marked as the oldest building in Conwy and has stood in the walls of Conwy since the 14th century. However, the oldest structure is part of the town walls, at the southern end of the east side. Here one wall and the tower of a ''llys'' (palace/court house) belonging to [[Llywelyn the Great]] and his grandson [[Llywelyn ap Gruffudd|Llywelyn ap Gruffydd]] have been incorporated into the wall. Built on a rocky outcrop, it has a prominent [[apse|apsidal]] tower.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T06uBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA20|title=The Medieval Castles of Wales|first=John|last= Kenyon|year=2010|page=20|publisher=University of Wales Press|isbn=978-0708323632}}</ref>

The walls are part of a [[World Heritage Site]], [[Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/374| title=Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd| access-date=15 November 2012 | publisher= UNESCO}}</ref>

People born within the [[Conwy town walls|town walls]] of Conwy are nicknamed "Jackdaws", after the jackdaws which live on the walls there. A Jackdaw Society existed until 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Joining the Jackdaws |date=September 2009 |work=BBC Northwest Wales |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/conwy/pages/jackdaws.shtml |access-date=4 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/uk-wales-north-west-wales-12714684|title=Jackdaw Society for those Born within Conwy Walls Folds|last=Evans|first=Kath|date=11 March 2011|work=BBC Northwest Wales|access-date=4 April 2012}}</ref>

The population of the town in 1841 was 1,358.<ref>''The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol.III,'' (1847) London, Charles Knight, p.1,018</ref>

===Abbey===
Conwy was the original site of [[Aberconwy Abbey]], founded by [[Llywelyn the Great]]. Edward and his troops took over the abbey site and moved the monks up the Conwy valley to a new site at Maenan, establishing [[Maenan Abbey]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Aberconwy Abbey|url=http://www.snowdoniaheritage.info/en/location/146/aberconwy-abbey/|website=Ein Treftadaeth (Our Heritage)|access-date=27 January 2017}}</ref> The [[parish church]] [[Church of St Mary & All Saints, Conwy|St Mary & All Saints]] still retains some parts of the original abbey church in the east and west walls.<ref>{{Cite web|title=St Mary and All Saints, Conwy|url=https://churchheritagecymru.org.uk/church-heritage-record-st-mary-and-all-saints-conwy-2059#Building|access-date=2021-08-27|website=churchheritagecymru.org.uk|language=en-GB}}</ref>

===Suspension bridge===
Conwy has other tourist attractions. [[Conwy Suspension Bridge]], designed by [[Thomas Telford]] to replace the ferry, was completed in 1826 and spans the River Conwy next to the castle.<ref>{{cite web|title=Conwy Suspension Bridge|url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=60|website=Engineering Timelines|access-date=27 January 2017}}</ref> Telford designed the bridge's supporting towers to match the castle's turrets. The bridge is now open to pedestrians only and, together with the toll-keeper's house, is in the care of the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/conwy-suspension-bridge |title=Conwy Suspension Bridge information |publisher=The National Trust|access-date=27 November 2022}}</ref>

===Railway bridge===
The [[Conwy Railway Bridge]], a [[tubular bridge]], was built for the [[Chester and Holyhead Railway]] by [[Robert Stephenson]]. The first tube was completed in 1848, the second in 1849.<ref>{{cite web|title=Conwy Tubular Bridge|url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=383|website=Engineering Timelines|access-date=27 January 2017}}</ref> The bridge is still in use on the [[North Wales Coast Line]], along with the [[Conwy railway station|station]], which is located within the town walls. In addition to a modern bridge serving the town, the [[A55 road]] passes under the river in a tunnel, Britain's first immersed tube tunnel, which was built between 1986 and 1991.<ref>{{cite web|title=Conwy Immersed Tube Tunnel|url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=381|website=Engineering Timelines|access-date=28 January 2017}}</ref> The old mountain road to [[Dwygyfylchi]] and [[Penmaenmawr]] runs through the [[Sychnant Pass]], at the foot of [[Conwy Mountain]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greatorme.org.uk/sychnant.html|title=The Sychnant Pass|publisher=Great Orme|access-date=27 November 2022}}</ref>

===Aberconwy House===
The National Trust owns [[Aberconwy House]], which is Conwy's only surviving 14th-century merchant's house, one of the first buildings built inside the walls of Conwy.<ref>{{cite web|title=Aberconwy House|url=http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/place/aberconwy-house|website=National Trust Collections|access-date=28 January 2017|archive-date=18 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218042627/https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/place/aberconwy-house|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Plas Mawr ===
[[File:Plas Mawr (original).jpg|thumb|Plas Mawr]]
[[Plas Mawr]] is an [[Elizabethan architecture|Elizabethan]] house built in 1576 by the Wynn family, which has been extensively refurbished to its 16th-century appearance and is now in the care of [[Cadw]] and open to the public.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.conwy.com/place/plas-mawr/|title=Plas Mawr - Elizabethan Mansion House Conwy|website=www.conwy.com}}</ref>

===Smallest house in Great Britain===
[[File:The Smallest House in Great Britain.jpg|thumb|upright|right|The smallest house in Britain.]]

The house named in the [[Guinness Book of Records]] as the [[Smallest House in Great Britain]], with dimensions of 3.05 × 1.8 metres, can be found on the quay. It was in continuous occupation from the 16th century (and was even inhabited by a family at one point) until 1900 when the owner (a {{convert|6|ft|adj=on}} fisherman – Robert Jones) was forced to move out on the grounds of hygiene. The rooms were too small for him to stand up in fully. The house is still owned by his descendants today, and visitors can look around it for a small charge.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/history-smallest-house-great-britain-12191046|title=History of the smallest house in Great Britain|last=Jones|first=Mari|date=2016-11-18|work=northwales|access-date=2017-05-26}}</ref>

=== Vardre Hall ===
Vardre Hall is a 19th-century [[Listed building#Grade II|Grade II]] listed building directly opposite to [[Conwy Castle]]. It was erected by [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Buckinghamshire]] MP [[William FitzMaurice (Buckinghamshire MP)|William Edward FitzMaurice]] in the mid 1850s. In 1869 the building was sold to solicitor William Jones. The building was used as a solicitor's office until 1972, when it was bought out and became The Towers Restaurant.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://historypoints.org/index.php?page=footnotes-vardre-hall-conwy|title=History Points – Footnotes Vardre Hall, Conwy|website=historypoints.org|access-date=1 October 2018}}</ref> After lying empty for a number of years Vardre Hall changed hands again, and in 1999 was refurbished as a shop.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theknightshop.com/about-us/|title=About Us – The Knight Shop {{!}} The Knight Shop|website=www.theknightshop.com|access-date=1 October 2018}}</ref>

===Medieval watchtower===
Across the estuary is [[Bodysgallen Hall]], which incorporates a medieval tower that was possibly built as a watch tower for Conwy Castle.<ref>{{cite web|title=History|url=http://www.bodysgallen.com/history/|website=Bodysgallen Hall & Spa|access-date=28 January 2017}}</ref>