Caernarfon Castle

Our View

In 1282, Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, the last native Prince of Wales, was killed in an ambush, and Welsh resistance to English occupation began to crumble. The victorious Edward I offered the Welsh a prince who was born in Wales, could speak no word of English, and whose life and reputation no one would be able to stain. He had in mind his infant son, later Edward II, who became the first English Prince of Wales. Edward was invested in Wales in 1301, and the tradition has continued ever since. In 1969, Prince Charles was invested as the current Prince of Wales in Caernarfon’s courtyard, watched by a worldwide television audience of millions. Building of the castle started in 1283, but a decade later the unfinished fortress was attacked during a Welsh rebellion, and considerable damage was done. Believing he couldn’t trust the locals, Edward press-ganged English craftsmen and labourers to rebuild, creating what still remains the grandest and most impressive of all the Welsh castles. Edward intended his castle not only as a fortress, but also the seat of his government in Wales and his own official residence there. Caernarfon Castle is shaped like an hourglass. Great walls with stones in banded colours (inspired by the walls of Constantinople, which Edward admired while on a crusade) run between the great towers, topped by battlemented wall-walks. The defences of the castle were formidable. In order to gain access to the courtyard, visitors were obliged to cross two drawbridges, pass through five heavy doors and walk under six portcullises. A range of arrow slits and murder holes, through which an unpleasant array of deadly missiles could be hurled down onto unwelcome guests, protected the entire way.