Conwy, Gwynedd, was built by a prosperous merchant in the 14th century; the oldest remaining domestic medieval structure in town; furnishings reflect changes in styles and use since the seventeenth… Read More »Aberconwy House (Conwy)
Criccieth Castle in Gwynedd, Walles, stands on a cliff over the Cardigan Bay
Gwynedd, a castle of King Edward I , on Isle of Anglesey; a perfect example of a concentrically planned castle. This unusual, yet magnificent building, located in the county town… Read More »Beaumaris Castle (in Wales) – All about
Photo gallery here Clwyd, Wales, was founded about 1295 as a stronghold for Edward I’s army captain Roger Mortimer, thus becoming one of the great fortresses of Edward’s reign; it… Read More »Chirk Castle (pics)
South Wales, the largest castle in Britain after Windsor, was built in 1268-1271 by the Anglo-Norman lord, Gilbert de Clare. Surrounded by an artificial lake it was a revolutionary masterpiece… Read More »Caerphilly Castle (Walles)
Continuously occupied by the Berkeley family since the 12th century, Berkeley Castle consists of a Norman, sandstone Keep with three semi-cylindrical turrets, and an Inner Ward surrounded by low-lying, 14ft thick walls. At one time there was a moat and the traditional Outer Ward to provide a defence strategy to the Inner Ward. The huge, round Keep is over sixty feet high, and is one of the oldest parts of the surviving castle.
Robert Fitzharding was in occupation during the mid-12th century when he was given permission by Henry II to construct a castle made of stone, to replace the former timber construction. It was from the descendants of Robert Fitzharding, who liked to describe themselves as ‘of Berkeley’, that lead to the family name still used today.
In the marvellous sweep of Cardigan Bay stand the ruins of one of Edward I’s late 13th century castles. Of the seven major English strongholds he established in Wales, Aberystwyth has fared least favourably in the survival stakes. Now little more than a few fragmented chunks of masonry displayed in a well-kept public park, the castle has lost its imposing hold on the town.
At one time guarded by one of the largest Iron Age forts in West Wales, Aberystwyth has been a place of strategic importance throughout history. The first Norman castle, built on a site further south, was begun by Gilbert de Clare but this has long since disappeared, having been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times during 200 years of political and family feuding. When Edward I begun his castle in 1277, it was a magnificent lozenge-plan concentric building of two stone curtain enclosures, flanked by sturdy round towers. Each curtain had a twin-towered gatehouse, the smaller outer gate leading to a barbican, and the inner gatehouse a substantial fortress with domestic accommodation. Excavations have revealed that a great hall stretched from this gatehouse to the south tower of the inner curtain, some 60ft long (18.3m) and 42ft wide (12.8m).
