With surviving remains of more than 470 earthwork and stone castles – roughly one to every sixteen square miles – Wales can truly claim to be 'a land of castles'. Most of them were built by Anglo-Norman lords and are a lasting reminder of over 200 years of strife which followed the Norman conquest.
However, the Welsh princes too were castle builders. The earliest record of a castle being built by a Welshman is at Cymer near Dolgellau in 1116, just fifty years after the Battle of Hastings. But although those sites formally recorded as being Welsh foundations number just ten out of well over 300 earthwork castles and twenty-two out of more than 150 stone castles in Wales, the actual numbers must have been very much greater.
Protecting and Conserving
In recent years Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Assembly Government, has carried out a comprehensive review of all sites in Wales which merit statutory protection. And now all the known castles of the Welsh princes are fully protected as scheduled ancient monuments. But of those twenty-two stone castles referred to earlier, only ten contain substantial areas of original Welsh masonry.
Eight of them – Castell y Bere, Criccieth, Dolbadarn, Dolwyddelan, Dolforwyn, and Ewloe in north Wales and Dinefwr and Dryslwyn in the south west – are in the direct care of the Cadw. After extensive masonry consolidation work at Dinefwr in recent years and major programmes of archaeological excavation and consolidation at Dryslwyn and Dolforwyn, all eight castles are now fully open to the public. Of the two remaining Welsh stone castles, Dinas Brân, above Llangollen, is looked after by Denbighshire County Council and Caergwrle in the north-east is owned by the local community council. Over the last twenty years Cadw has provided more than £200,000 towards the conservation of these two sites and both are also now open to visitors.
Discovering Buried Walls
Twenty years ago the only visible remains at Dryslwyn and Dolforwyn castles were small areas of standing masonry in the midst of grassy mounds. Cadw initiated major archaeological excavations at both sites led by archaeologists from Cardiff, Durham, Leeds and York universities. The results have been spectacular.
Major defensive towers and complexes of buildings have emerged from the rubble, along with the great stone balls hurled at the castles from giant catapults by the English forces during their sieges at Dolforwyn in 1277 and Dryslwyn in 1287. During this same period Clwyd County Council excavated the entire courtyard and gateway at Caergwrle Castle, and Cadw provided grant aid towards excavations by the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust at the Welsh princely court of Rhosyr on Anglesey. These, the first scientific excavations of Welsh castles and courts, have revolutionized our understanding of this aspect of Welsh history.
Researching and Presenting
Our understanding of what these castles looked like and of how they were lived in over 700 years ago relies on careful analysis and research. As well as the results of archaeological excavation, detailed recording of the masonry is essential to identify hidden architectural features and to distinguish different building periods. Valuable information can be provided also by archaeological fieldwork and by minute scrutiny of the early documentary evidence.
Sometimes this can even lead to the discovery of sites which have lain unidentified for centuries past. An instance of this is the locations of some of the long-lost courts of the princes of Gwynedd, which have recently been rediscovered by the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust in a project grant-aided by Cadw to study princely courts and townships. It is painstaking work like this which lies behind all the up-to-date interpretations presented by Cadw on site and in its guidebooks and other publications, and it underpins other recent academic books and articles on these Welsh princely sites.
Castles of the Welsh Princes: What to Look For
There is little visible difference between earthwork castles built by the Welsh and those built by the Anglo Normans. Only at the end of the 12th century, when construction began in stone, can a clear distinction be seen between English and Welsh castle works.
Welsh castles tend to have simple plans of irregular shape and they are frequently sited on rocky outcrops in landlocked mountain passes. Natural defences are often supplemented by deep rock-cut ditches. Other common features are apsidal ('D' shaped) and rectangular towers, but these are rarely more than two storeys high. The curtain walls of Welsh castles tend to be relatively slight; they do not usually have large gatehouses and little provision was ever made for flanking fire between mural towers as would be normal in castles built by the English.
There are many possible reasons for these differences in design. The north Welsh were predominantly spearmen, not archers, and this would radically affect methods of defence. Lack of money and also of skilled labour, compared with that available to an English lord, would both be significant factors. But above all, the bonds of society were strong in Wales, whereas in England authority was maintained by force; thus the use and purpose of these castles would have been essentially different.
And Where to See Them
Castell y Bere, Gwynedd: the distinctive remains of a native Welsh castle probably begun by Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth ('the Great') around 1221. Near Llanfihangel y Pennant, off the B4405 6½ miles NE of Tywyn. Caergwrle Castle, Flintshire: established by Dafydd, the brother of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, in 1278. 4 miles N of Wrexham off the A541.
Castell Dinas Brân, Denbighshire: built by the Welsh rulers of Powys in a prominent and elevated position above Llangollen. Off the A539.
Criccieth Castle, Gwynedd: established by Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth ('the Great') in the 1230s. On a coastal bluff near Criccieth town centre.
Dinefwr Castle, Carmarthenshire: ancestral seat of the Welsh rulers of Deheubarth. 1½ miles W of Llandeilo off the A40.
Dolbadarn Castle, Gwynedd: probably built by Llywelyn ab Iorwerth ('the Great') early in the 13th century. ½ mile SE of Llanberis on the A4086
Dolforwyn Castle, Powys: begun by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, prince of Gwynedd, in 1273. 3¾ miles NE of Newtown, signposted off the A483.
Dolwyddelan Castle, Gwynedd: established by Llywelyn ab Iorwerth ('the Great') around 1210. 1m (1.6km) W of Dolwyddelan, on the A470.
Dryslwyn Castle, Carmarthenshire: established in the 1220s by Rhys Grug of Deheubarth. 5 miles W of Llandeilo off the B4297
Ewloe, Flintshire: probably built by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd ('the Last') after 1257. 1 mile NW of Ewloe, off the A55.
Cadw guidebooks for Castell y Bere, Criccieth, Dinefwr, Dolbadarn, Dolwyddelan, Dryslwyn and Ewloe castles are available from:
Cadw, Plas Carew, Unit 5/7 Cefn Coed, Parc Nantgarw, Cardiff CF15 7QQ
www.cadw.wales.gov.uk
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