Beaumaris

One of Anglesey’s best-known sailing resorts, at the eastern end of the Menai Strait, Beaumaris was founded by Edward I, who built one of his great castles here, although it was never finished. In this view, two old salts and a boy look out across the pier and the Menai Strait to the mountains of Snowdonia. Beaumaris was popular with tourists: it offered fine bathing grounds, pleasant walks and a ferry to Bangor.
An extract from from"North Wales Photographic Memories".

Beaumaris means ‘beautiful marsh’. From mediaeval times until the 19th century, Beaumaris was Anglesey’s main harbour; 111 sailing vessels and 8 steamers were registered in 1893. Copper ores, slate and marble were exported. Here a paddle steamer approaches the pier, one of many vessels plying the coastal waters between Bangor and Liverpool.
An extract from from"North Wales Photographic Memories".

The town, granted its charter by Edward I in 1294, still has something of an English air, and much fine architecture. Castle Street is one of the two main streets, the other being Watergate. The town developed fast in Victorian times, and in 1896 had a commodious town hall, assembly rooms, a custom house, a literary institute, a club, a market-house and a free grammar school. Picture postcards, hugely popular at the time, are for sale on the left - perhaps they included Frith postcards.
An extract from from"North Wales Photographic Memories".

The southern gateway of the outer bailey once guarded a small dock situated where the moat met a channel dug from the sea. Construction of the hexagonal outer bailey curtain wall, its associated towers and gates began in about 1315, though the northern gateway is thought not to have been completed. The design included offsetting the gateways in such a way that any attackers would be forced to turn a corner before reaching the inner ward gatehouses, thus subjecting them to a murderous crossfire from nearby towers.
An extract from from"Welsh Castles".

This was the last of Edward Longshanks’ Welsh fortresses. Construction began in 1295 under the personal supervision of the King’s engineer-architect Master James of St George. Master James used Harlech as the basis for the design, employing two large gatehouses instead of a keep. The walls were 15ft thick, and like the gatehouses they were flanked by six towers. Beaumaris was, in fact, never completed. War with Scotland, and Longshanks’ desire to press his claims in France, meant that money was tight. The towers of the inner curtain were never completed to their intended height, and the great hall and other accommodation and domestic blocks in the inner ward were never begun.
An extract from from"Welsh Castles".