Conwy Castle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Conwy Castle in its present state.

Conwy Castle in an early 20th century illustration from Cassell's History of England.

Conwy Castle (formerly anglicised as Conway Castle) is a castle in Conwy, on the north coast of Wales. It was built between 1283 and 1289 as part of King Edward I's second campaign in north Wales. Like many of the castles in the area, it was designed by James of St. George, although Richard of Chester was responsible for the initial stages. The castle is divided into two wards, with the outer ward and inner ward surrounded by four towers each, with turrets. An estimated £15,000 was spent building the castle and the town's defenses.

Conwy superficially resembles a Concentric castle, but more accurately it is linear. Like Caernarfon Castle, it is built on a rock outcrop, to reduce the possibility of undermining. It also takes advantage of other geographical features.

Nearby Bodysgallen Hall was built in the 13th century as a watchtower for Conwy Castle to lookout for attack from a northerly exposure not easily watched from Conwy itself. Some of the stone used in construction of Conwy Castle has been linked to a quarry at the Bodysgallen property (C.M. Hogan, History of Bodysgallen Hall, July, 2004, Aberdeen Municipal Library Acrchives, Aberdeen, United Kingdom).

The castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward I in Gwynedd".