Caernarfon - Economy

Economy

Caernarfon's historical prominence and landmarks have made it a major tourist centre. As a result of this many of the local businesses cater for the tourist trade. Caernarfon is home to numerous guest houses, inns and pubs, hotels, restaurants and shops. The majority of shops in the town are located either in the centre of town around Pool Street and Castle Square (Maes), or on Doc Fictoria. A number of shops are also located within the Castle Walls.

The majority of the retail and residential section of Doc Fictoria (Victoria Dock) was opened in 2008. The retail and residential section of Doc Fictoria is built directly beside a Blue Flag beach marina. It contains numerous homes, bars and bistros, cafés and restaurants, an award- winning arts centre, a maritime museum and a range of shops and stores.

Pool Street and Castle Square (Maes), contain a number of large, national retail shops and smaller independent stores. Pool Street is a pedestrianised street and as such, serves as the town's main shopping street. Castle Square, commonly referred to as the 'Maes' by both Welsh and English speakers, is the market square of the town. A market is held every Saturday throughout the year and also on Mondays in the Summer. The square was revamped for a cost of £2.4 million in 2009. However, since its revamp the square has caused controversy due to traffic and parking difficulties. This is as during the revamp, it was decided to remove barriers between traffic and pedestrians creating a 'shared space', to try and force road users to be more considerate of pedestrians and other vehicles. This is the first of its kind in Wales but has been described as being 'too ambiguous' for road users by councillor Bob Anderson. Another controversy caused by the revamp of the Maes was that a historic feature of the town was taken down; namely a very old oak tree, situated outside the HSBC bank. When the Maes was re-opened in July 2009 by the local politician and Heritage Minister of Wales, Alun Ffred Jones AM, he said "the use of beautiful local slate is very prominent in the new Maes."

There are many old public houses serving the town, including The Four Alls, The Anglesey Arms Hotel, The Castle Hotel, The Crown, Morgan Lloyd, Pen Deitch and The Twthill Vaults. The oldest public house in Caernarfon is the Black Boy Inn, which remained in the same family for over 40 years until sold in 2003 to a local independent family business. The pub has stood inside the walls of Caernarfon Castle since the 16th century, and many ghosts have been sighted within the building.

In and around the town walls are numerous eating establishments, public houses and inns, and guest houses and hostels.