Caernarfon Castle
A designated World Heritage Site, Caernarfon Castle dominates the town in its romantic setting on a small peninsula jutting out to the Menai Straits.
The site was originally fortified by the Norman Marcher earl of Chester who built a motte-and-bailey stronghold here in 1090. This was captured by the Welsh Princes of Gwynedd and came into English hands when Edward I defeated Prince Llewelyn in 1282. Edward set about building a citadel from which to rule north Wales here and set his master mason James of St George on building an appropriate fortress palace. The castle was completed in 1330 and was strong enough for a garrison of just 28 to repel a siege from Welsh rebel Owain Glyndwr and his French allies in 1404 and was later successfully held numerous times in the Civil War.
The model for the castle, it is widely believed, was the outline of the city of Constantinople, around the time of its capture by the Crusaders in 1204, a grandiose theme that can be appreciated from the far bank of the estuary. From this vista you can see the scale and elaboration of Caernarfon through the contours of it’s turrets and towers.
Caernarfon has eleven towers in total and massive curtain walls, which protect the castles upper and lower wards. Entrance to the castle is through the Kings Gate facing the town above which is a statue of Edward II, the first English Prince of Wales. The castles features include a drawbridge and a series of portcullises and an inner drawbridge. The Eagle Tower was part of the royal residences and is the finest of the castles towers accentuated by a trio of turrets. The Queen’s Tower was built for Edward I’s wife Eleanor and is now home to the Regimental Museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers which houses memorabilia from campaigns across the globe including famous battles at Waterloo in 1815, and along side the US Marines during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. Wall passages link to the Chamberlain Tower, which contains the robbing chamber, used by the Prince of Wales in the 1969 Investiture.
This attraction is included in the Great British Heritage Pass.
