In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Deganwy like this:
DIGANWY, an ancient castle in the detached part of Carnarvonshire; at the mouth of the river Conway, 2 miles S of Llandudno. Its site is thought by Camden to have been occupied by the Roman Dictis; which other antiquaries suppose to have been in the vicinity of Ambleside. The old English historians called the place Gannoe, while the Welsh called it Dinas-Gonwy, signifying the "fort of the Conway, " and corrupted into Diganwy. An early fort here is said to have been destroyed by lightning in 810; and the subsequent castle is thought to have been erected about the time of the Norman conquest. ...
Prince Elpin was confined here by his uncle Maengwyn; King John and Henry III. took refuge at it, under distress by the Welsh; and Edward I. destroyed the castle at the time of his building that of Conway. Only small fragments of the pile now remain; but a neighbouring modern mansion bears its name. Mrs. Hemans wrote here her poem entitled the "Ruin and its Flowers." A station on the Llandudno railway, of the name of Diganwy, is near the castle.
Deganwy through time
A Vision of Britain through Time includes a large library of local statistics for administrative units. For the best overall sense of how the area containing Deganwy has changed, please see our redistricted information for the modern district of Conwy. More detailed statistical data are available under Units and statistics, which includes both administrative units covering Deganwy and units named after it.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Deganwy, in Conwy and Caernarvonshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/23855
Date accessed: 23rd May 2013
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