We visited Rhuddlan Castle in North Wales for the first time last week. It is located in the town with the same name in the welsh county of Denbighshire. Its around 20 miles or so away from the border with England.
As with the majority of the large castles in North Wales, this was also built by Edward the 1st during his invasion of Wales. He built a string of castles in strategic positions so that he could exert control over the land.
To some extent its a fairly simple castle, it has large walls that enclose a square area of ground. But these walls are very thick and would have been quite impregnable back in the day.
But like all of Edward the 1sts Welsh castles, they were built for action. The walls are very defensive and enclose a decent amount of ground which would have provided for the garrison of soldiers.
One of the distinguishing features of this castle is its three-sided moat. Its quite wide and deep, and again would have made life very difficult for any attackers. On its other side it has the river - so its well defended on all sides.
I did quite like the moat - it looks really cool these days with the grass cut quite nicely !
Although the castle is pretty ruined, you can still get up on one stretch of wall, which gives great views of the castle, and also an idea of the vantage point that the castle was built in. You can see for miles all around - so they knew how and where to place a castle.
The shot above shows the post holes designed into the walls for the beams needed to support the floors, which is pretty cool. Its one of the better examples I've seen of these.
The two towers at the entrance are fairly dominating features, with the other 3 corners having just one tower each.
And thats my other castle explorers for the day (wife, daughter and nephew) - we had a great time !
Although a ruin, CADW the Welsh organisation tasked to protect its heritage has done an amazing job of maintaining the castle and making it accessible. In the pic above you can see the specially designed staircase they added so that you could get right up inside one of the corner towers.
It was interesting to find out that Elizabeth, the 8th daughter of Edward the 1st, was actually born in the castle in 1282, the year work on it was completed. So he was actively using his castles, during his campaign in Wales.
The castle saw action via skirmishes with the Welsh in the 13th and 14th centuries, and again during the English Civil War in the 17th Century. After being captured by the Parliamentary Forces during the civil war, they deliberately damaged it so that it could not be used for further military purposes.
So I'm guessing that explains a lot of the large holes and gaps in the towers and walls !
I liked these carvings in the wall of one of the window gaps - historic graffiti !
The pic above looks down into one of the entranceways in one of the corner towers. You can see how the elements have weathered the stone over the years. But its nice that you can still see the features and groves in the wall which would have secured the gates and portcullis.
Again the pic above shows another view of one of the entranceways. Gates or portcullis would have likely slide up in the arched area above - and normally there were a consecutive set of gates to get past - just to make it that bit harder !
For a modest fee it was well worth the visit, and I'd certainly go again.
It was cool to get up on the walls, even if only for a short stretch.
And it has a great history, I say that because not all castles do - some of them were just fancy homes that never saw any action, but these Welsh beauties have it all !
And I tried a panorama shot (below) - it sort of came out ! Better luck next time - eh !
All the best, and I hope you enjoyed the pics !
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