Conwy Castle
Conwy Castle and its walled town went up in about four years, with eight towers and a price tag that Edward I's treasury felt for decades.
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Quick Facts
- Location
- Conwy, on the north Wales coast, beside the River Conwy estuary
- Built
- 1283 to 1287, under Edward I
- Architect
- Master James of St George, the king's master mason
- Design
- Eight massive towers, two wards and a rock-top setting, linked to a walled town
- Town walls
- About 1.3 km long, with 21 towers and three original gates
- Recognition
- Part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site 'Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd'
- Cost
- Roughly £15,000 for castle and walls, a huge sum in the 1280s
- Sieges
- Besieged in 1295 by Madog ap Llywelyn's rebels and in the Civil War of 1646
A castle finished faster than most people finish a kitchen
Conwy was raised at astonishing speed. Work began in 1283, and by 1287 the castle and its town walls were largely complete. Hundreds of labourers, masons, carpenters and smiths were gathered from across England and marched or shipped to north Wales to do it. The result is a fortress of eight great round towers, split into an outer ward and a more private inner ward. From a distance it looks as though it grew straight out of the rock it stands on, which was exactly the idea.
Edward I's iron ring
Conwy was one of the castles Edward I built to keep hold of Wales after his conquest of 1282-83, which saw Llywelyn ap Gruffudd killed in December 1282 and his brother Dafydd ap Gruffudd defeated in 1283. Together with Caernarfon, Harlech and Beaumaris, it formed what is often called the iron ring. The site was chosen with care. Nearby stood Aberconwy Abbey, a Cistercian house closely tied to the Welsh princes. Edward moved the monks up the valley to Maenan and built his castle and a new English town on the old abbey's doorstep. The message was hard to miss.
The man who drew the plans
The mastermind was Master James of St George, a mason from Savoy who worked for Edward on castle after castle. His fingerprints are on Conwy's tidy, muscular geometry, with the towers placed so defenders could cover every stretch of wall. He is also tied to Harlech, Caernarfon and Beaumaris. Conwy shows him working with a tight timetable and a very large budget.
Under siege at Christmas
In the winter of 1294-95 Madog ap Llywelyn led a Welsh revolt, and Edward himself was caught at Conwy. The king was trapped in his own new castle while the river rose and supplies ran short. The relief came by sea, and the rebels were beaten the following year. The castle was later a Royalist stronghold in the Civil War. After a siege in 1646 it fell to Parliament, and in 1665 it was stripped of valuable lead and timber, leaving the roofless ruin we see today.
Three bridges and one very good view
Conwy is unusual for the company it keeps. Beside the castle stand Thomas Telford's elegant suspension bridge of 1826, built so the road crossing would not clash with the medieval look, and Robert Stephenson's tubular railway bridge of 1848. Together they make a famous trio of crossings in one small spot. Telford even gave his bridge towers a castellated style to blend with the fortress.
What to look out for
Climb the towers and walk the battlements for sweeping views over the estuary, the harbour and the slopes of Snowdonia. Look for the great hall in the outer ward, then head into the inner ward to find the royal chapel and the king's apartments, where the layout is still easy to follow. Then head out and walk the town walls, among the best-preserved medieval circuits in Britain. The castle and town were designed as one piece, and seeing both together is the best way to understand why Conwy was built.
Notable people
- Edward I
- Master James of St George
- Madog ap Llywelyn
- Llywelyn ap Gruffudd
- Dafydd ap Gruffudd
- Thomas Telford
- Robert Stephenson
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