´óÏó´«Ã½

Caernarfon Castle

Caernarfon Castle

Last updated: 23 November 2010

Edward I conquered Wales in 1277 and set about fortifying the rebellious area of north Wales. He began work on the strategically important Caernarfon Castle in 1283, when the Prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, mounted an uprising.

The site enabled Edward to control traffic along the Menai Strait - a very important objective for his continued supremacy in the area. It had existed originally as a Roman fort, and an earlier Norman motte and bailey castle.

Its majestic, imposing form took shape and building work continued until 1323, in a complex, sophisticated version of the linear form. It wasn't actually finished, however - and still today examples of the incomplete structure are visible.

The cost of the building work was astonishing - £22,000, more than the Treasury's yearly income.

Caernarfon came under attack in the uprising of 1294-5, and again by Owain Glyndŵr in 1403-4, and both times stood up to the attacks. It was only in the Civil War that the garrison surrendered to the Parliamentary forces in 1646.

A popular, possibly aprocryphal, story arose concerning the investiture of the Prince of Wales - a tradition which was started once more in the twentieth century. Edward I, after subjugating the Welsh, promised the Welsh "a Prince born in Wales, who did not speak a word of English".

The Welsh were apparently taken aback when the Prince put forward his infant son, who indeed was born in Wales during Edward's military campaign, and due to his youth did not speak any word - English or not.

In 1911, the future Edward VIII was invested at Caernarfon Castle, and Prince Charles was invested there in 1969.


Bookmark this page:

History blog

Explore the celebrated and lesser-known incidents in Welsh history, watch rare clips from ´óÏó´«Ã½ Wales' own archive, find out about history events in Wales.

Phil Carradice

Britain might have been totally unprepared for war in 1939 but within ...

By:

The Story of Wales

Image from Story of Wales

Your story. Our story.

Missed an episode? Catch up on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ iPlayer.

Family history

Tree

Getting started

Tracing your Welsh roots? Pick up some tips in our guides.

Migration

Argentine flag

The Welsh in Patagonia

In 1865, the Mimosa, a tea-clipper set sail for South America.

´óÏó´«Ã½ iD

´óÏó´«Ã½ navigation

´óÏó´«Ã½ © 2014 The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.