Conwy Castle

Conwy ’s mighty castle is one of the finest in Britain and one of the best examples of a medieval military castle in Europe.

Conwy was one of a series of castles built in North Wales by King Edward I in the 13th Century to secure the newly conquered principality of Wales . After fighting a protracted 2-year campaign against the Welsh Princes of North, and spending some £100,000 doing so, Edward was determined to crush them politically as well as militarily. So he built a ring of indomitable castles around the Welsh mountain strongholds of Snowdonia and established English settlements there.

Like its sister castles in Caernafon , Beaumaris and Harlech , Conwy castle was designed and built by James of St George, master mason of Savoy and the greatest military architect of his time. The building of Conwy Castle took five years, employed 1,500 men and cost some £15,000, it was undoubtedly the most ambitious military project of the Middle Ages and the very peak of castle building. It’s a testament to its architecture that Conwy required a garrison of just 30 men to defend it.

Conwy Castle is a staggeringly impressive, castle, dramatic in all its proportions. Built onto a rocky promontory out into the bay, Conwy has eight bold drum towers, which stud the crenellated walls. The castle was originally approached via a Watergate with defensive barbican now it is entered via a visitor centre with an excellent exhibition on the Conwy. The castle has roofless outer and inner wards, where the remains of the castle dungeons, kitchens can be seen in the outer ward, while the royal apartments with only traces of the more elaborate touches can be seen around the window arches and visitors can take a walk along sections of the battlements of the castle walls and turrets with fine views over the bridges into Conwy and the east barbican.

The castle was last used for military purposes in the Civil War of the 1640s after which it was dismantled and abandoned, later to become the subject of antiquarian interest in the 19th Century and of course the painter JMW Turner.


This attraction is included in the Great British Heritage Pass.