Criccieth - The Stone of Strength

Description

Outside the Memorial Hall lies a large boulder which weighs about 170kg . Every year, strong men from all over Britain come to try and lift it to their shoulder. There are many such stones around the country and beyond. They are known as “Feat Stones”. This stone originally stood outside the old Town Hall, at the foot of the castle. It was known as the “Carreg Cam” (Step Stone) suggesting that it was used to mount horses. Evan Hughes who grew up on Castle Street before the Great War wrote that local residents would tell visitors that the stone had mystical powers! That area was then known as “Y Dref” (the town). The market and fair was held here, from the square down to Abermarchnad. There were at least two taverns close by. The little green in front of the Town Hall was where the farm hands, quarrymen and sailors hung around and challenged each other to lift the stone. It was said that stone masons had most success as they were used to lifting heavy weights.
In the 1880s, David Lloyd George lived in Tanygrisiau Terrace and would pass the stone every morning on his way to the railway station for his train to Porthmadog, where he was an articled solicitor’s clerk. Gatherings took place on the green beside the Town Hall, and during election campaigns the prospective candidates would make their speeches here. Perhaps even the future Prime Minister stood on the stone to address the locals. In 1927 the town council resolved “that the Carreg Cam be removed from the Town Hall to the Memorial Hall grounds”.