THE town of Llanrwst is situated on the eastern bank of the river Conway,
in the beautiful and luxuriant vale to which it lends its name. The
river is broad, smooth, and shallow, except when swollen by the mountain
floods, which rise and fall with wonderful rapidity. One of the most
celebrated objects here is the famous shaking bridge, built from a design
of Inigo Jones. It consists of three arches, the centre sixty feet span,
and, if the crowns of the arches were not too high, would be a light,
beautiful, and ingenious work. The ceremony of shaking is performed by
two persons upon the crown of the centre arch, first rocking themselves
sufficiently to acquire a gentle momentum, and then falling back against
the great centre stone of the battlements; a person leaning against the
opposite battlement will feel the tremulous motion communicated through
the whole masonry of the bridge. The view of Llanrwst vale from the
bridge, and from the road leading to it on the Denbighshire side of the
river is of unexampled beauty. The Gwydyr woods clothe a precipitous
mountain on the west, for a length of five miles, through which a bold
crag here and there is seen protruding with a fine effect. The opposite
side is also finely wooded, and variegated with mansions, parks, meadow,
corn-land, and all that enriches a landscape. This perspective of the
vale presents a composition embracing grandeur and magnificence in a high
degree, combined with scenes of great pastoral beauty.
The town possesses no architectural or other peculiar attractions, and
from the lowness of its situation does not participate in the exquisite
scenery with which it is surrounded. Its recommendations are of a less
romantic though not less useful character, consisting in the excellence
of its fairs and markets, and its convenient position for the conduct of
a profitable inland trade. The town and market-hall, the free school,
and the almshouses {91} are its most ancient institutions of a public
class. The church is picturesquely placed on the bank of the river; and
the view of the valley, with the famous bridge in the foreground, enjoyed
from the churchyard, is eminently beautiful. The church is dedicated to
Saint Rystyd or Rwst, archbishop of London in the year 361, and one of
those who were present at the council of Arles. The ground on which it
is built was given by Rhun ap Nefydd, in expiation of the foul murder of
Prince Idwal, who was slain in Cwm Idwal, by order of his foster-father
Nefydd Haradd. The chief object of interest here is the Gwydyr chapel,
adjoining the church, of which Inigo Jones was the architect, A.D. 1663,
the expense being defrayed by Sir Richard Wynne. The design is much
admired, and its restitution by Lord Willoughby D’Eresby, representative
of the ancient house of Gwydyr, is characteristic of a happy exertion of
munificence and taste. The carved roof is not part of Jones’s design, it
was brought hither from the dissolved abbey of Maenan, three miles from
Llanrwst. In this mausoleum of the Wynnes are some curious monuments,
illustrative of history, and no mean specimens of the progress of the
arts at the period of their execution. A white marble tablet contains a
pedigree of the family from the time of Edward the First down to the year
in which the chapel was erected. Underneath this pedigree is an
exquisite portrait, engraved on brass, of Dame Sarah Wynne, daughter of
Sir Thomas Myddleton, of Chirk Castle, executed in a masterly style by
William Vaughan in the year 1671. On the south side are two pyramidal
columns of variegated marble adorned with military insignia, one to the
memory of Meredyth; the other of Sir John Wynne, and his consort the Lady
Sidney, daughter of Sir William Gerard, chancellor of Ireland; and
between the columnar monuments is a simple tablet to John ap Meredydd who
died in 1559.
A fine effigiated tomb, sunk in the floor, represents Howel Coetmore ap
Gryffydd Vychan ap Dafydd Gam, in complete armour, his feet resting on a
lion couchant. He was grandson of Gryffydd, {93} who lies interred in
the church of Bettws-y-coed, and proprietor of the Gwydyr estates, which
were purchased from one of his descendants by the Wynnes.
Here also is preserved the stone coffin in which the remains of Llewellyn
the Great were deposited in the abbey of Conway; upon the dissolution of
religious houses in Wales it was removed here. A singular Latin
inscription, of which the following is a translation, appears on a
monument in the pew belonging to the Davises of Cyffddû; it is dedicated
to the memory of Gryffydd Lloyd of Bryniog, and is supposed to have been
written by himself,
“Once the undeserving schoolmaster,
Then the more undeserving lecturer,
And last of all the most undeserving rector of this parish.
Do not think, speak, or write any thing evil of the dead.”