Caerphilly Castle

Caerphilly Castle is Wales’s largest castle, the second largest in the UK (after Windsor) and one of the largest in Europe!

It is a huge, magnificent and incredibly imposing Norman Fortress that was constructed in 1268 by the Norman Lord Gilbert de Clare. The castle is located on a thirty- acre site right in the centre of Caerphilly. It is incredibly well- preserved and is one of the best examples of a Norman fortress in the World.

This magnificent castle is a clear testimony to the turbulent medieval times in South Wales. The site was chosen as it was strategically important and was based on the site of a former Roman fort. It was also built to act as a deterrent to the Prince of Wales at the time Gruffydd ap Llewellyn, who was causing problems for the invading Norman Lords.

The castle served as a powerful reminder to local people and Llewelyn of the power of the local Norman Lord, Gilbert de Claire. As well as it's formidable stone wall defences it also has a number of moats or water defences which are arranged in three concentric rings.

The concentric defences were designed to be extremely difficult to penetrate and even if attackers got beyond the first set of defences, they would be cornered by moats or more walls. The design allowed easy access to other parts of the stronghold by defenders meaning that Towers and gatehouses could independently be held and reinforced. It would have taken an incredibly heroic or massive assault to overthrow this supreme Medieval Fortress but the Welsh did have a few attempts!

The first attempt was by Llewelyn Prince of Wales who tried to attack the stronghold while it was still being built! He did not succeed in causing serious disruption however, and retired to the north after this failed attempt.

Throughout the 13th and 14th Centuries Caerphilly Castle continued to be the focus of attacks by the Welsh. In 1316 a noble by the name of Llywelyn Bren raised an army of 10,000 Welshman and attached the Fortress but they failed to breach its formidable defences. They contented themselves instead with the destruction of Caerphilly town.

After several failed attempts to siege the Fortress by the 15th and 16th centuries, the bastion had become rather obsolete as a centre of power due to the peace between England and Wales.

The Beauchamp family acquired the castle during the 15th Century and spent a considerable sum maintaining its accommodation. However, their good works were undone by their successors as occupiers of the Fortress, the Lewis family who carried away a lot of its stone to use in the building of their own home at Van Mansion!

During the Civil War the role of the Castle is shrouded in mystery. There is a rumour that the famous "leaning tower" was the result of a Gunpowder explosion during the Civil War though there is no evidence to support this and another explanation is that the leaning tower is the result of subsidence.

Incidentally the "leaning tower" leans more than that of its more illustrious counterpart in Pisa!

The restoration and return to magnificence of the Castle is due in no small part to the Marquees of Bute who acquired it in the late 18th Century. Restoration began in the late nineteenth century, under the direction of the incredibly rich third Marquees of Bute. This good work continued throughout the last century by the 4th Marquees and the State. The result of their hard work is the incredible and awe- inspiring Fortress that is the centre of Caerphilly today.