Conwy Castle

Before the English built the town of Conwy, Aberconwy Abbey, the site was occupied by a Cistercian monastery favoured by the Welsh princes,[3] as well as the location of one of the palaces (called llys) of the Welsh princes. From Conwy: "the oldest structure is part of the town walls, at the southern end of the east side. Here one wall and the tower of a llys [palace/court house] belonging to Llywelyn the Great and his grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffydd have been incorporated into the wall. Built on a rocky outcrop, with an apsidal tower, it is a classic, native, Welsh build and stands out from the rest of the town walls, due to the presence of four window openings. It dates from the early 13th century and is the most complete remnant of any of his Llys."

The location also controlled an important crossing point over the River Conwy between the coastal and inland areas of North Wales, that Deganwy Castle for many years had defended.[3] The kings of England and the Welsh princes had vied for control of the region since the 1070s and the conflict had resumed during the 13th century, leading to Edward I intervening in North Wales for the second time during his reign in 1282.[4]

Reconstruction of Conwy Castle and town walls at the end of the 13th century. Model located in Conwy Castle.

Edward invaded with a huge army, pushing north from Carmarthen and westwards from Montgomery and Chester. Edward captured Aberconwy in March 1283 and decided that the location would form the centre of a new county: he would relocate the abbey eight miles up the Conwy valley to a new site at Maenan, establishing Maenan Abbey, and build a new English castle and walled town on the monastery's former site.[5] The ruined castle of Deganwy was abandoned and never rebuilt.[6] Edward's plan was a colonial enterprise and placing the new town and walls on top of such a high-status native Welsh site was in part a symbolic act to demonstrate English power.[7]

Work began on cutting the ditch around Conwy Castle within days of Edward's decision.[8] The work was controlled by Sir John Bonvillars and overseen by master mason James of St. George, and the first phase of work between 1283 and 1284 focused on creating the exterior curtain walls and towers.[9] In the second phase, from 1284 and 1286, the interior buildings were erected, while work began on the walls for the neighbouring town.[10] By 1287, the castle was complete.[10] The builders recruited huge numbers of labourers from across England for the task. At each summer building season, the labourers massed at Chester and then walked into Wales.[11] Edward's accountants did not separate the costs of the town walls from that of the castle, but the total cost of the two projects came to around £15,000, a huge sum for the period.[10][nb 1]

The castle's constable was, by a royal charter of 1284, also the mayor of the new town of Conwy (to this day, the Mayor is ex-officio Constable of the Castle), and oversaw a castle garrison of 30 soldiers, including 15 crossbowmen, supported by a carpenter, chaplain, blacksmith, engineer and a stonemason.[13] The first constable of the castle was Sir William de Cicon who had previously been the first constable of Rhuddlan Castle. In 1294 Madog ap Llywelyn rebelled against English rule. Edward was besieged at Conwy by the Welsh between December and January 1295, supplied only by sea, before forces arrived to relieve him in February.[14] Chronicler Walter of Guisborough suggested that given the austere conditions Edward refused to drink his own private supply of wine, and instead had it shared out amongst the garrison.[15] For some years afterwards, the castle formed the main residence for visiting senior figures, and hosted Edward's son, the future Edward II in 1301 when he visited the region to receive homage from the Welsh leaders.[16]

Conwy Castle seen from the west, showing the barbican guarding the Outer Ward

Conwy Castle was not well maintained during the early 14th century and by 1321 a survey reported it was poorly equipped, with limited stores and suffering from leaking roofs and rotten timbers.[17] These problems persisted until Edward, the Black Prince, took over control of the castle in 1343.[17] Sir John Weston, his chamberlain, conducted repairs, building new stone support arches for the great hall and other parts of the castle.[17] After the death of the Black Prince, however, Conwy fell into neglect again.[17]

At the end of the 14th century, the castle was used as a refuge by Richard II from the forces of his rival, Henry Bolingbroke.[18] On 12 August 1399, after returning from Ireland, Richard made his way to the castle where he met Bolingbroke's emissary, Henry Percy, for negotiations.[19] Percy swore in the chapel he would not harm the king. On 19 August, Richard surrendered to Percy at Flint Castle, promising to abdicate if his life were spared.[20] The king was then taken to London and died later in captivity at Pontefract Castle.[19]

Henry Bolingbroke took the English throne to rule as Henry IV in 1400, but rebellion broke out in North Wales shortly afterwards under the leadership of Owain Glyndŵr.[19] In March 1401, Rhys ap Tudur and his brother Gwilym, cousins of Owain Glyndŵr, undertook a surprise attack on Conwy Castle.[19] Pretending to be carpenters repairing the castle, the two gained entry, killed the two watchmen on duty and took control of the fortress.[19] Welsh rebels then attacked and captured the rest of the walled town.[21] The brothers held out for around three months, before negotiating a surrender; as part of this agreement the pair were given a royal pardon by Henry.[19]

During the War of the Roses between 1455 and 1485, fought by the rival factions of the Lancastrians and the Yorkists, Conwy was reinforced but played little part in the fighting.[22] Henry VIII conducted restoration work in the 1520s and 1530s, during which time the castle was being used as a prison, a depot and as a potential residence for visitors.[22]

The Bakehouse Tower with watchtower, guarding the Inner Ward, overlooking the North Wales Coast Line

Conwy Castle fell into disrepair again by the early 17th century.[23] Charles I sold it to Edward Conway in 1627 for £100, and Edward's son, also called Edward, inherited the ruin in 1631.[23][nb 2] In 1642 the English Civil War broke out between the Charles' royalist supporters and Parliament.[23] John Williams, the Archbishop of York, took charge of the castle on behalf of the king, and set about repairing and garrisoning it at his own expense.[23] In 1645, Sir John Owen was appointed governor of the castle instead, however, leading to a bitter dispute between the two men.[25] The Archbishop defected to Parliament, the town of Conwy fell in August 1646 and in November General Thomas Mytton finally took the castle itself after a substantial siege.[26] The Trevor family petitioned Mytton for the return of property in the castle that they had lent to the Archbishop.[27]

In the aftermath of the siege, Colonel John Carter was appointed governor of the castle and fresh repairs were carried out.[26] In 1655 the Council of State appointed by Parliament ordered the castle to be slighted, or put beyond military use: the Bakehouse tower was probably deliberately partially pulled down at this time as part of the slighting.[26] With the restoration of Charles II in 1660, Conway was returned to Edward Conway, the Earl of Conway, but five years later Edward decided to strip the remaining iron and lead from the castle and sell it off.[28] The work was completed under the supervision of Edward Conway's overseer William Milward, despite opposition from the leading citizens of Conwy, and turned the castle into a total ruin.[29]

By the end of the 18th century, the ruins were considered picturesque and sublime, attracting visitors and artists, and paintings of the castle were made by Thomas Girtin, Moses Griffith, Julius Caesar Ibbetson, Paul Sandby and J. M. W. Turner.[29] Several bridges were built across the River Conwy linking the town and Llandudno during the 19th century, including a road bridge in 1826 and a rail bridge in 1848. These improved communication links with the castle and further increased tourist numbers.[30] In 1865 Conwy Castle passed from the Holland family, who had leased it from the descendants of the Conways to the civic leadership of Conwy town. Restoration work on the ruins then began, including the reconstruction of the damaged Bakehouse tower.[30] In 1953 the castle was leased to the Ministry of Works and Arnold Taylor undertook a wide range of repairs and extensive research into the castle's history.[31] An additional road bridge was built to the castle in 1958.[30] Already protected as a scheduled monument, in 1986 it was also declared part of the World Heritage Site of the "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".[32]

In the 21st century the castle is managed by Cadw as a tourist attraction and 186,897 tourists visited the castle in 2010; a new visitor centre was opened in 2012.[33] The castle requires ongoing maintenance and repairs cost £30,000 over the 2002–03 financial year.[34]

Conwy Castle was twinned with Himeji Castle, Hyogo prefecture, Japan at a formal ceremony in Himeji on 29 October 2019.[35]

This is the list of the constables of Conwy (Conway) castle and their reigning Monarchs from the Principality of Wales, the Kingdom of England and then the Commonwealth of England without hiatus until today's monarchy of Great Britain.[63]

• Ashbee, Jeremy (2007). Conwy Castle. Cardiff, UK: Cadw. ISBN 978-1-85760-259-3.
• Ashbee, Jeremy (2010). "The King's Accommodation at his Castles". In Williams, Diane; Kenyon, John (eds.). The Impact of Edwardian Castles in Wales. Oxford, UK: Oxbow Books. pp. 72–84. ISBN 978-1-84217-380-0.
• Brears, Peter (2010). "Food Supply and Preparation at the Edwardian Castles". In Williams, Diane; Kenyon, John (eds.). The Impact of Edwardian Castles in Wales. Oxford, UK: Oxbow Books. pp. 85–98. ISBN 978-1-84217-380-0.
• Brown, R. Allen (1962). English Castles. London, UK: Batsford. OCLC 1392314.
• Coldstream, Nicola (2010). "James of St George". In Williams, Diane; Kenyon, John (eds.). The Impact of Edwardian Castles in Wales. Oxford, UK: Oxbow Books. pp. 37–45. ISBN 978-1-84217-380-0.
• Creighton, Oliver Hamilton; Higham, Robert (2005). Medieval Town Walls: An Archaeology and Social History of Urban Defence. Stroud, UK: Tempus. ISBN 978-0-7524-1445-4.
• Given-Wilson, Chris (1996). The English Nobility in the Late Middle Ages. London, UK: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-44126-8.
• Lepage, Jean-Denis G. G. (2012). British Fortifications Through the Reign of Richard III: an Illustrated History. Jefferson, NC, US: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5918-6.
• Lott, Graham (2010). "The Building Stones of the Edwardian Castles". In Williams, Diane; Kenyon, John (eds.). The Impact of Edwardian Castles in Wales. Oxford, UK: Oxbow Books. pp. 114–120. ISBN 978-1-84217-380-0.
• Lowe, Walter Bezant (1912). The Heart of Northern Wales: As it was and as it Is, Being an Account of the Pre-historical and Historical Remains of Aberconway and the Neighbourhood. Vol. 1. p. 187-328.The heart of North Wales at Google Books
• Pounds, Norman John Greville (1994). The Medieval Castle in England and Wales: A Social and Political History. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-45828-3.
• Pugin, Augustus (1895). Examples of Gothic Architecture Selected From Various Ancient Edifices in England. Edinburgh, UK: J. Grant. OCLC 31592053.
• Taylor, Arnold (2008). Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls. Cardiff, UK: Cadw. ISBN 978-1-85760-209-8.