Largest Welsh castle to be built by King Edward I
Located on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales, Beaumaris Castle was started in 1295 and was the last and largest of the castles to be built by King Edward I in Wales.
A castle was almost certainly planned by Edward when he visited Anglesey in 1283 and designated the Welsh town of Llanfaes to be its seat of government.
But resources were already stretched and the scheme was put on hold until 1295, after a failed uprising led by Madog ap Llywelyn.
The extent of English power in the area at the time is demonstrated by the fact the entire native population of Llanfaes was forced to move to a newly-established settlement, named Newborough, leaving an entirely open site on which possibly the most sophisticated example of medieval military architecture in Britain was to be built.
Building progressed at an astonishing speed, with about 2,600 men engaged in the work during the first year, but Edward's invasion of Scotland soon diverted funding from the project and work stopped, only recommencing after an invasion scare in 1306.
When work finally ceased around 1330 a total of £15,000 had been spent, a huge sum for the period, but the castle remained incomplete.
Regarded as the most technically perfect castle in Britain, Beaumaris was constructed according to an ingenious ‘walls within walls’ plan.
A high inner ring of defences is surrounded by a lower outer circuit of walls, combining an almost unprecedented level of strength and firepower.
The first line of defence was provided by a water-filled moat, about 18ft wide, and at the southern end was a tidal dock for shipping, where vessels could sail right up to the main gate. The dock was protected by the shooting deck on Gunner's Walk.
Across the moat is the low curtain wall of the outer ward, punctuated by 16 towers and two gates. On the northern side, the Llanfaes gate was probably never completed.
The gate next to the sea, on the other hand, preserves evidence of its stout wooden doors and gruesome "murder holes" above. Once through, an attacker would still have to face 11 further obstacles before entering the heart of the castle.
These obstacles included the barbican, further "murder holes," three portcullises and several sets of doors. If the daunting prospect of the gate-passage proved too much, the would-be attacker caught hesitating between the inner and outer walls could not have survived for long. A rain of heavy crossfire would have poured down from all directions.
But despite these extensive defences the castle was taken by Welsh forces in 1403 during the Owain Glyndŵr rebellion, but was recaptured by royal forces in 1405.
Following the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642, the castle was held by forces loyal to Charles I, holding out until 1646 when it surrendered to the Parliamentary armies.
Despite forming part of a local royalist rebellion in 1648 the castle escaped slighting and was garrisoned by Parliament, but fell into ruin around 1660, eventually forming part of a local stately home and park in the 19th century.
In the 21st century the ruined castle is managed by Cadw as a tourist attraction.
