Aberystwyth

Surveyor Valuer

Aberystwyth Wales

Approximate Population: 11,607

The recorded history of Aberystwyth, however, may be said to date from the building of a fortress in 1109 by Gilbert Fitz Richard (grandfather of Richard de Clare, known as Strongbow, the Cambro-Norman lord notable for his leading role in the Norman invasion of Ireland).   Gilbert Fitz Richard was granted lands and the Lordship of Cardigan by Henry I, including Cardigan Castle.   The fortress built in Aberystwyth was located about a mile and a half south of today’s town, on a hill over the south bank of the Ystwyth River.

Edward I replaced Strongbow’s castle in 1277, after its destruction by the Welsh.   His castle was however built in a different location, at the current Castle Hill, the high point of the town.   Between the years 1404 and 1408 Aberystwyth Castle was in the hands of Owain Glyndŵr, but finally surrendered to Prince Harry (the future King Henry V of England).   Shortly after this the town was incorporated under the title of Ville de Lampadarn (the ancient name of the place being Llanbadarn Gaerog, or the fortified Llanbadarn, to distinguish it from Llanbadarn Fawr, the village one mile (1.6 km) inland).

It is thus styled in a Royal charter granted by Henry VIII, but by Elizabeth I’s time the town was invariably termed Aberystwyth in all documents.   In 1649 the Parliamentarian troops razed the castle[5], so that its remains are now inconsiderable, though portions of three towers still exist.   Excavations in the 1970s within the castle, in what is believed to be a stables area, revealed a complete male skeleton, deliberately buried.[citation needed] Rarely surviving in Wales’ acidic soil, this skeleton was probably preserved by the addition of lime from the collapsed building.   Affectionately known as “Charlie”, he probably dates from the English Civil War period, probably dying during the Parliamentarian siege and is now housed in the Ceredigion Museum in the town.

Surveyor Valuer Aberystwyth Wales

Bangor

Surveyor Valuer Bangor Wales

Approximate Population: 13,725

Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. The origins of the city date back to the founding of a monastic establishment on the site of Bangor Cathedral by the Celtic saint Deiniol in the early 6th century AD.   The name ‘Bangor’ itself is an old Welsh word for a type of fenced-in enclosure, such as was originally on the site of the cathedral.   The present cathedral is a somewhat more recent building and has been extensively modified throughout the centuries.
Bangor in 1610.

While the building itself is not the oldest, and certainly not the biggest, the bishopric of Bangor is one of the oldest in Britain.   Another claim to fame is that Bangor allegedly has the longest High Street in Wales.   Friars School was founded as a free grammar school in 1557, and Bangor University was founded in 1884.

Surveyor Valuer Bangor Wales