Castle review thread.

[Montegriffo]

I feel like the poor man's Martin Hash.
Champagne lifestyle on a brown ale budget.

[Montegriffo]

Sitting on the jetty waiting for the ferryman to make his first trip of the day across to Piel island. Slightly misty today which makes the castle look even more romantic.
The tide is out and only about 100 yds of water separates the island from the mainland.
The castle and island was given to the people of Barrow by Duke Ruccleuch in 1920 as a war memorial to those who lost their lives in the '14 - '18 war.

[Montegriffo]

There were about 10 of us waiting for the first ferry of the day at 11am. Thunder was audible, coming from inland, faint at first then louder as it got closer. The rain it brought with it was enough to put off everyone off except this intrepid reporter. It was going to take more than a soaking and a 40 minutes late ferry to stop me getting to Piel island.





Built by the local Abbey to provide defense against Scottish raids and to control the traffic coming into the local deep water harbour from Ireland and the Isle of Mann. Constructed in the early 14th century on the site of a previous 12th century building.
Consisting of a large keep and an inner and outer baily with 2 concentric square curtain walls each with a wide ditch. The ground floor of the keep was used mainly for storage of the goods taxed and the wool smuggled illegally by the Abbey. This smuggling of wool led to complaints from the port of Calais where all imports of wool were supposed to be brought in (Calais being an English possession from early on in the 100 years war for around 3 centuries).

Sea erosion has taken a toll on both curtain walls and part of the keep which fell onto the shore.



the gatehouse


The castle is the most poorly maintained ruin I have seen so far. Overgrown with plants some parts of the inner curtain wall were barely visable through the foliage.
Built from rocks off the shoreline rather than the red or grey sandstone common to nearly every other castle I've seen so far the walls contain a lot of black flintsone and granite and a host of other types of rock. The arches, doorways and arrow loops were still edged in the attractive and easily worked red sandstone which were showing amazing patterns of erosion after nearly 700 years of wind and rain.

A metal bar was accross the entrance to the keep and for the first time I broke the rules and climbed over the bar and into the keep. For a penance I cleared the site of all the cans I found lying around.
The stairs in the thickness of the wall going up to the top of the tower was secured and had not been open to the public for 30 years although the ferryman claimed the landlord of the pub next to the island had a key and would let you look around if you got to know him.






Am having a day off today and am in Manchester visiting some juggler mates. A game of poker has been arranged to mark my visit...

Tomorrow Chester castle then finally into Wales and my first James of St George built castle commissioned by King Edward I (hammer of the Scots) himself.

[C-Mag]

Thanks Monte, I'm enjoying your posts.

:GoTeam

[Montegriffo]

The curse of Long Meg hit my poker.

[Montegriffo]

A change of plan today. I had intended to visit Chester castle but after a couple of days of motorways and big cities I didn't fancy driving around another big town in lousy traffic...
So I decided on Flint instead.





Edward I invaded Wales in 1277. This was to quell the first uprising led by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd the last sovereign Prince of Wales. Known as Llwelyn the last.
The same year he comissioned Flint castle as the first in what came to be known as ''Edward I's iron ring'' of castles in North Wales.
All of the castles were to be supplied from the English garrison town of Chester, near the Welsh border.
The castles were to be supplied by sea and were built on the shoreline like Flint or on the banks of rivers with access to the sea.
Flint marks a new era in castle building. Built in the Savoy style, which Edward had seen on his way to the crusades, gone was the Norman style square keep inside a curtain wall and in its place a great tower which was round and isolated from the rest of the castle surrounded by the moat.
This reconstruction using gaming technology shows it as it was.



This castle was the first one worked on by Master James of Savoy also known as James of St George. James was brought in by Edward to complete the job started by another Master stone mason/castle builder when progress was deemed to be too slow.
James had finished the job by 1282 a mere 5 years from start to finish.
Llwelyn's first rebellion was crushed in under 6 months and was over by November 1277.
Llwelyn was killed at the battle of Orewin in the second Welsh war in 1282. With him died Wales' last hope of independence from England.

[Montegriffo]

I arrived at Rhuddlan castle too late to get in due to a blow out on a rear tyre.
I am parked up in a layby just outside the town, with a view of the twin gatehouse, waiting till 10 tomorrow when I can look around.

[Montegriffo]

[Montegriffo]

Rhuddlan castle this morning. This is a large castle, probably the biggest yet.
Built at the same time as Flint, this is where Edward had his HQ for Llwelyn's two uprisings in 1277 and 1282.
A diamond shape with twin towered gatehouses at each of the flatter corners and single towers at the sharper ones.




The castle is a mile or so inland on the river Clwyd. During the fortification's lengthy construction, the river course was straightened and dredged to allow ships to sail inland along a man-made channel. Its purpose was to allow provisions and troops to reach the castle even if hostile forces or a siege prevented overland travel.
A tower guarded the stone jetty used for unloading stores into the castle


The castle never fell to the Welsh, either in Llwelyn's uprising or during the 1400 siege of Owain Glyndŵr.
Held by Royalists in the civil war it was eventually surrendered to Parliamentary forces in 1646 and slighted (partly demolished so it could no longer have a military use) two years later.

Moated on 3 sides and defended by the river on the 4th with huge walls and towers this place really feels impregnable.
As at Flint castle modern stainless steel spiral staircases follow the course of the long gone stone stairs in some of the towers and allow access to a short section of the battlements on top of one of the walls.

The missing masonry along the bottom of the towers and walls was stolen by stone robbers probably in the 18th century.

[Montegriffo]

A short drive along the beautiful Colwyn bay took me to Conwy.



You know I just said Rhuddlan was a large castle...
This place is enormous.



8 huge towers with a wall across the centre splitting it into an inner and outer ward.
A 1300m long wall with about 20 towers surrounds the adjacent medieval town.


All but one of the towers, which was closed for maintenance, had their stone spiral staircases renovated with concrete replacing the missing steps. The four towers of the inner ward still had their observation towers on top.
This means you need strong legs and a head for heights if you intend to climb them all.
It took me nearly 3 hrs to see every nook and crook and climb every tower of this massive fortress leaving me exhausted. It took another half hour to walk along the top of the 3/4 mile town wall.

Conwy Castle (Welsh: Castell Conwy, English: Conway Castle) is a medieval fortification in Conwy, on the north coast of Wales. It was built by Edward I, during his conquest of Wales, between 1283 and 1289. Constructed as part of a wider project to create the walled town of Conwy, the combined defences cost around £15,000, a huge sum for the period. Over the next few centuries, the castle played an important part in several wars. It withstood the siege of Madog ap Llywelyn in the winter of 1294–95, acted as a temporary haven for Richard II in 1399 and was held for several months by forces loyal to Owain Glyndŵr in 1401.

Following the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642, the castle was held by forces loyal to Charles I, holding out until 1646 when it surrendered to the Parliamentary armies. In the aftermath the castle was partially slighted by Parliament to prevent it being used in any further revolt, and was finally completely ruined in 1665 when its remaining iron and lead was stripped and sold off. Conwy Castle became an attractive destination for painters in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Visitor numbers grew and initial restoration work was carried out in the second half of the 19th century. In the 21st century the ruined castle is managed by Cadw as a tourist attraction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conwy_Castle
In today's money the castle cost £45 million.


Another short drive, over a bridge and I'm on the Island of Angelsey. A quick drive by the awesome Beaumaris castle (too late to visit) and a quiet little park up in the nearby hills to overnight and rest up for tomorrow's look around.