NAR SH77NE6.6

A late thirteenth century royal mansion known as Llewelyn's Hall once stood by and included a tower on Conway's Town Walls.
Llewelyn's Hall is first mentioned in 1296 when repairs were recorded, and this may be the 'Prince's Hall' of 1286. It is thought that the hall had belonged to or been associated with, the Prince of Gwynedd and it may have been attached to the Cistercian Abbey that then occupied the site of the town (see NPRN 43768), possibly as a guest house. Excavations in 1984 were inconclusive, the site being greatly disturbed.
The castle (NPRN 121) and borough (NPRN 33013) were established in the same year and the town walls (NPRN 95280), including this tower, were largely complete by 1286. Building accounts include payment made in that year for three windows facing the Gyffin stream and these survive to the east of the tower. Each has a single light and is fitted with window seats. They would have lit a chamber associated with the hall. Much work was carried out on the hall in 1302-6 and the originally open-backed tower was fitted out as lodgings at this time. The hall itself, presumably a timber-framed structure, was dismantled in 1316 and shipped to Caernarvon Castle.

Sources: Toy in Archaeologia 86 (1936), 174-5
Taylor 'Conway Castle & Town Walls' MoW guide (1957), 48-9
Mason in the Transactions of the Caernarvonshire Historical Society 56 (1995), 11-35

John Wiles 18.03.08