Conwy's Military Heritage

Conwy has been involved in military conflict for over 2,000 years. The Iron Age hill fort of Caer Seion defended the area from the sixth century BC. Many slingshot stones have been discovered here, attesting to troubled times. In 881 the Welsh defeated an Anglo-Saxon army led by Aethelred of Mercia. The most spectacular outcome of Conwy¿s strategic military significance at the mouth of the River Conwy was Edward I¿s mighty castle, creating a walled town. In 1399 Richard II sought refuge in Conwy Castle against the future Henry IV¿s forces and the castle was besieged again during the English Civil War by Parliamentary forces. An army camp was established at Morfa in the nineteenth century, becoming home to the Salford Pals and the Royal Engineers in the First World War and a Polish resettlement camp after the First World War. During the war, the sulphur mine at Caer Coch was the country¿s largest producer of sulphur, vital for munitions. Conwy also played a vital role in the Second Worl