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| Caernafon Castle at night |
Greeting my beautiful and handsome fellow!
Now I will told a castle that the most impressive in Wales, which is Caernavon
Castle. Well, it’s not so powerful if you want to compare with other great
castle such as Harlech and Beaumaris, but Caernarvon has its own character
which was as a seat of power and as a symbol of English dominance over the
subdued Welsh.
Caernarvon is located at the
southern end of the Menai Strait between north Wales and Anglesey, 8 miles
south west of Bangor. During Edward I's invasions of Wales, this was
strategically an excellent place to build a castle because Anglesey was
referred to as the garden of Wales, providing agriculturally rich land close to
the poorer land on north Wales. The Menai Strait also allowed speedy access
between the north Welsh coast and the western coast, and was therefore
important for King Edward 1 to control for supplying outposts such as Harlech
and Aberystwyth. Here, Edward built a town, after destroying the original Welsh
settlement. The name of the castle is a new settlement from English origin,
“Caernarvon" as opposed to the Welsh "Caernarfon"
The work to build it began in May
1283. The reason it’s been built is because Edward wanted to create a nucleus
of English influence in this area, which was previously so rich in Welsh
tradition and anti-English feeling. He also wished to create Caernarvon as the
capital of a new dominion - hence the incorporation of a town and market into
the strong walls of the site.
In the first phase, the material for
the building of the castle, town, walls, gates, and important quay were ferried
in by sea. On June 24th the first recorded entry of work was on the
new castle's ditch, separating the castle from fortified town. As you know all
castles has a wooden barricade to defend the building works from attack. The
only tower of the castle completed during the first phase of the building was
the Eagle Tower; the main priority was to make the site defensible. Work
continued swiftly and the castle and town walls were substantially completed by
late 1285. Madog AP Llywelyn over-ran the castle in his revolt of 1294, and
succeeded in burning part of the castle and damaging the town walls. This happens
because at the end of the first building phase, the north wall of the castle
had no wall, and was instead defended by the town walls and a wide rock cut
ditch. The English retook the castle next summer, and orders were given to make
the castle defendable again by 11th November 1295. The town walls and castle
were repaired, and the north wall of the castle was finally added, including
the King's Gate. By 1330, the building payments ceased and the castle stood
with similar looks as it does today. Overall, the expenditure on Edward I's
grandest castle had been £25,000 over 50 years.
| Caernarfon Castle's map |
The Eagle Tower, Queen's Tower,
Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower all were accommodation towers built on
several stores, mostly with self-contained chapels on each storey. Two halls
existed, the Great Hall and a hall in the King's Tower. The castle was intended
to and capable of accommodating the household of the king's eldest son, Prince
of Wales, with his council, family and guests also in attendance. This castle
was intended as the capital of a new dominion, and a palace for the dynasty of
the new Prince of Wales.
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