Castles and Fortifications of Wales

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List of castles in Wales - Wikipedia

Newport was attacked in by Iorwerth ab Owain Gwynedd, father of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth the Great , but was clearly rebuilt because Crown records noted expenditure on the castle. In Newport Castle passed into the hands of the powerful Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester who held it until apart from brief periods in , during the Second Barons' War , and following an attack by Morgan ap Maredudd ap Llywelyn. Gilbert was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn and thereafter it passed into Royal ownership with Edward II granting the property to his unpopular favourite - Hugh Despenser the Elder, Earl of Winchester.

This prompted an attack by Roger Mortimer, Earl of March in which the timber castle on Stow Hill was completely destroyed and never rebuilt.

The downfall of the Despenser family led to the reallocation of their extensive lands. One of these individuals built the stone castle seen today sometime before Positioned on the banks of the River Usk, it controlled the trade and access along that important artery. The castle's frontage along the waterfront was designed to impress with three large towers dominating the water. The central tower doubled as a Watergate with small boats being able to access the interior at high tide. Behind the impressive waterside frontage was a moat and curtain wall which enclosed a broadly rectangular courtyard.

Finding popular support, including from former supporters of the recently deposed Richard II, many of the great northern fortresses built by Edward I fell to the rebels. Newport Castle was back in Royal hands by when major repairs were conducted on behalf of Henry IV and with the restoration of English control in South Wales it resumed its role as an administrative centre.

Further upgrades were made in and it was briefly used as a residence by Jasper Tudor, uncle of Henry VII, following the overthrow of the York dynasty after the Battle of Bosworth The castle was taken into Crown ownership in but was neglected and fell into ruin. However, when he died in the Normans occupied the coastal region and it was probably William I himself who built Cardiff Castle at this time. Supported by twelve Knights and their retinues he advanced from Gloucester around , built Newport Castle and then moved west into the Vale of Glamorgan where he established his administrative centre at Cardiff.

By the time of his death in , he had advanced as far west as the River Ogmore. Despite his success, he limited his expansion to the coastal region where the flat terrain suited Norman military operations and made resupply relatively easy. Accordingly the upland portion of Senghennydd, including the site of Caerphilly Castle, remained unoccupied by the Normans at this time.

The de Clare family acquired the Lordship of Glamorgan in and became Earls of Gloucester from The divisions forged during the late eleventh century, where the Glamorgan lowlands were under Norman control whilst the uplands were in the hands of the Welsh, had endured to this time and the de Clares resolved to conqueror the whole area.

Periodic warfare followed with Gilbert de Clare d. However it was Gilbert de Clare, Seventh Earl of Gloucester who took the initiative to seize the upland portion of Senghennydd from its then owner, Gruffudd ap Rhys. Clare's actions had been authorised by Henry III on the grounds that Rhys had supported Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales who had exploited the political turbulence of the Second Barons' War to expand the area under his control at the expense of the English.

Clare advanced north in and by April the following year had commenced the construction of Caerphilly Castle within the Rhymney valley. The design of Caerphilly Castle was heavily influenced by Kenilworth Castle , a major Warwickshire fortress protected by vast artificial lakes, which had recently defied Royal forces during the Second Barons' War. At Caerphilly a large fortified dam was created to trap the flow of the Nant y Gledyr stream. This created a large artificial lake with the castle occupying a natural gravel spur that was levelled to create a flat platform for the castle. A further island, known as the Western Island, was also fortified.

The primary purpose of these water features was defensive - a water-filled moat or lake prevented undermining whilst the effective range of throwing machines and other such artillery was limited to around metres. However, the lake would also have served an economic function and was doubtless used as a large fishpond, an important source of food in the medieval household.

List of castles in Wales

Whilst the outer defences were influenced by earlier fortifications, the castle itself was a significant departure from previous structures. It dispensed with a Keep, the traditional redoubt that was normally the strongest part of such a facility, and instead adopted a concentric design consisting of a double circuit of walls with strongly fortified gatehouses.

The outer defences enclosed the entire island with a low wall and was accessed via small gatehouses on the east and west sides.

The inner defences formed a broadly rectangular area with a round tower on each corner. A large gatehouse dominated the eastern side of the castle which doubled as the Keep and also included high status accommodation.

The west gatehouse had a smaller footprint but was still a substantial defensive structure in its own right. The design of Caerphilly Castle was a significant influence on Edward I who imitated its design in his own Welsh fortresses - such as Beaumaris , Conwy , Caernarforn and Harlech - that were built in the subsequent decades.

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A small town was established to serve the needs of the castle. This was located to the south of the castle and interestingly the town was not protected by its own walls, a remarkable situation given this was a fortification built in hostile territory.

It is likely the Western Island was used as a redoubt for the populace in times of the trouble. By the time work started on the castle in April , Henry III and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd had sealed the Treaty of Montgomery which aimed to bring peace between the two parties. However, the scale of the work at Caerphilly outraged Gruffudd who attacked it early during the construction process. Significant portions of the castle were timber at this early stage and they were burnt bringing the build process to a halt.

Henry III attempted to defuse the situation but de Clare simply moved back in and resumed construction. Significant resource was diverted to the construction effort and the castle was completed at an breathtaking speed with the bulk of the work having been completed by , just three years after it had started.

In Edward I became King of England and, whilst he initially maintained the provisions of the Treaty of Montgomery , relations with Llywelyn ap Gruffudd soon broke down. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Further information on Welsh castles: Castles in Great Britain and Ireland. Dinas Powis Wrinstone Castle. Retrieved 15 November John Jones Publishing Ltd. List of castles in Europe.

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