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Paintings Of Conwy Castle
By peace | August 6, 2006
Conwy Castle was designed for King Edward I by Master James of St. George and was built between 1283 and 1289. James of St. George was a master mason summoned from mainland Europe to implement Edward’s plans. He was born around 1230 and worked on a number of great European castles before starting on his massive undertaking for Edward. The beautiful Beaumaris Castle was his last design in Wales and with this he had perfected the concept of the “concentric castle”.
Conwy is said to have been captured as the result of a trick in 1401. On Good Friday, with most of the garrison at church, a carpenter gained access and admitted a group of Welsh rebels who proclaimed their allegiance to Owain Glyndwr. Most were pardoned when the castle was finally returned to the crown, others were jailed.
Conwy Castle is one of the earliest examples of Edward I’s “iron ring” of castles built to pacify the rebellious princes of northern Wales.
Edward finally subdued the Welsh threat in Snowdonia in 1283. Well aware of the strategic importance of Conwy to the area, Edward immediately began building a massive castle there. So important was the castle to Edward that he imported up to 1,500 craftsmen from all over England to speed the building process. The castle was completed in only four years, a remarkable feat in those days.
Conwy is unusual in that the castle walls swoop down from the high cliffs where the castle stands, to enclose the entire medieval town. Some of the wall has disappeared over the centuries, but in general it has fared well, and a visitor can walk along the old battlements. There are still 21 towers along the course of the wall, and the three gateways flanked by twin towers gives you a sense of the original grandeur of Edward’s scheme.
The reason for the strong defensive walls becomes clear when you consider that Edward not only imported builders, he imported a whole population of English settlers to Conwy! These new settlers were carefully protected from the local Welsh population by the castle and town walls. In a sense, Conwy became an outpost of England within hostile enemy territory.
The castle itself is comprised of eight massive round towers forming a rectangle. This in itself sets Conwy apart from the model of concentric rings Edward and Master James perfected at most of his other Welsh castles.
Conwy Castle saw its last military action during the English Civil War. Cromwell’s Parliamentary army besieged the castle for three months in 1646 before the defenders capitulated. After the Restoration of the monarchy the Earl of Conwy took ownership of the castle. The Earl unfortunately used his position to strip the castle of iron, timber, and lead for building, leaving Conwy open to centuries of disintegration and neglect.
The castle is remarkably well preserved, especially considering the depredations of the Earl, and terrific views of the harbour and town of Conwy can be had from the towers. The Inner Ward contains the royal apartments built for Edward and Queen Eleanor in 1283. These apartments originally rose above heated basements, but the floors are no longer intact.
The importance of Conwy Castle from an architectural standpoint is borne out by the fact that it has been named a World Heritage Listed Site.
In the village of Conwy you can see the Smallest House in Britain, the Teapot Museum, and Aberconwy House, an authentic 14th century merchant’s dwelling. Also, Conwy is home to the striking Conwy Suspension Bridge, built by Thomas Telford in 1826.
Topics: All Posts, Gallery, Medieval |
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:23 pm
i would want to know how many rooms are there? plus i would want to see how the restrooms look like. is there any peasants in conwy castle?