Castles
Cardiff Castle
At first glance, Cardiff's city center seems an unlikely place to find a castle. The capitol of Wales is a typical city, busy, laden with traffic, shoppers searching for a good buy. Government buildings glisten in the sun. The National Museum of Wales offers impressive exhibits of Welsh history and cultural development. However, in the midst of this urbanization, Cardiff's ancient past is grandly displayed, in the form of a fine castle.
Some individuals scoff at Cardiff's castle, claiming it is not a true castle, that it is of too recent construction to be taken seriously. These people are woefully misguided, for Cardiff Castle is indeed an authentic castle. It is actually the combined work of more than one building period, the masonry remains of which are clearly visible in the structure. One's initial impression of the castle is sudden, based upon Victorian-age renovations. Hallmarked by the ornate Clock Tower, splendid in its own right but oftentimes downplayed as unauthentic, the exterior of the castle has been greatly redesigned to fit the fantasies of two remarkable 19th century medievalists: the 3rd Marquess of Bute, John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, and his whimsical architect, William Burges. Both men were highly talented dreamers who sought to recreate their visions of the Middle Ages in their own lifetimes, here in Cardiff, and also at the fanciful Castell Coch, an enchanting reconstruction not too far outside of Cardiff (and also open to the public).
The marvelous Clock Tower with its colorful artwork, contrasts dramatically with earlier stonework at the castle. Inside and out, the Victorian additions startle and dazzle. Over and over, throughout the castle, the 19th century interiors are decorated with such flamboyance and gaudy embellishment that the original features of the castle are greatly overshadowed, almost to the point of complete invisibility. Astrological symbols, nature's creatures, the pleasures of the seasons, biblical characters dressed in gilt robes, moorish designs, and heraldic features are some of the themes that run rampant throughout Bute's castle. Flowing fountains, rich greenery and incredible marble fireplaces accentuate the astounding effect of their creators' medievalist yearnings.
Unfortunately, many visitors come away from Cardiff Castle blinded with the grandeur (or they may consider it the tackiness) of Lord Bute's masterpiece. They fail to realize that Cardiff Castle is so much more than a monument to two men's idealization of the long lost past. It is the keeper of a profoundly impressive relic from the Norman past, one that has persisted despite changes in taste and the impact of modernization and urban development; and, it also houses remnants from an even earlier social order: the Roman era in Wales.
Most likely, the Romans built earliest settlement at Cardiff in the mid-first century AD. A site of great strategic value along the extensive network of Roman roads in Wales, Cardiff sat along the main link between Caerleon (with its wonderful, virtually intact, amphitheater) and Carmarthen (where another, less well- preserved, amphitheater was built). The Romans constructed a 10- acre fort on the spot where the castle now rests. Inside the walls would have been barracks, workshops, stores and other essential buildings. Apparently, three successive forts were erected by the Romans during their tenure at Cardiff. However, it was not until Lord Bute's building program in the late 1800's that any Roman ruins were uncovered. Much of what does remain from the Roman period is now clearly visible as you approach the main entrance into the castle, at the base of the later Norman walls, separated from later stonework by a narrow layer of red sandstone.
Right: Inside the great keep at Cardiff Castle. Note the remains of a fireplace on the right, and a stairway leading to the top of the keep at left.
Castle Coch - Cardiff
This building is chiefly known as a romantic folly supposedly reproducing a small medieval Welsh chieftain's stronghold, built in the 1870s, for the 3rd Marquess of Bute to a design by William Burges, and possessing the most remarkable interior decoration. However, it was built upon the remains of a genuine 13th century castle built in two stages. Evidence was found of the building having been deliberately slighted by mining.
The castle was probably founded by a Welsh lord in c1240-65 and had a round tower keep at the SW corner of a tiny D-shaped courtyard with a hall on the south side, all built of rough rubble sandstone from which the building took the name Castell Coch, or "Red Castle." It stands upon a platform commanding the gorge of the Taff and was protected towards the higher ground by a deep dry moat from the bottom of which the walls rise with a very broadly battered base.
The keep contained vaulted rooms, and probably had a fourth storey and a conical roof like it has now. The walls are over 3.3m thick above the square battered base from which it rises with pyramidal spurs.
The two eastern towers, the square gatehouse between them, and the upper hall on the south side were superior ashlar faced buildings added slightly later, perhaps by Gilbert de Clare, who is likely to have taken over the castle in the 1270s or 1280s. These works were more damaged than the older part and not much survived of the towers above the rooms at courtyard level. The curtain wall also thickened at the second building period and now has two fighting galleries, a series of embrasures at courtyard level, and a roofed over wall walk open to the court on the inner side.
Oxwich Castle – Nr Swansea
The magnificent Tudor mansion created by Sir Rice Mansel and his son Edward stands on a headland above the wide sweep of Oxwich Bay. The house is known as Oxwich Castle, and there indeed appears to have been an earlier true stronghold on the site. Philip Mansel is recorded as holding the site in 1459. However, the remains we see today are best regarded as those of a mock-fortified manor house, with clear evidence of sumptuous accommodation, and raised during the peaceful and prosperous years of the 16th century.
The Mansels were one of a number of minor gentry families in south Wales who gained in power, prestige and property under the Tudor monarchs. The growth of this powerful gentry class, whose lifestyle resembled that of earlier feudal magnates is reflected in the appearance of similar manor houses throughout south Wales. Beaupre in the Vale of Glamorgan, for example, was another Mansel house, and Sir Richard Williams created an imposing mansion in part of the former abbey at Neath.
As completed, Oxwich was arranged around an enclosed courtyard with some military pretension. It was entered through a showy gateway, and, typical of the period, was emblazoned with the arms of Sir Rice Mansel. Within, there are two adjacent ranges of buildings which appear to have been designed independently, each capable of functioning as a household in its own right.
Oystermouth Castle – Swansea
This is the Gower Peninsula's finest castle, standing on a small hill with a magnificent view over Swansea Bay in the resort town of Mumbles. It is well-preserved, intricate and exciting to explore. Oystermouth Castle was founded by William de Londres of Ogmore Castle early in the 12th century. Of this first castle, which was probably a ringwork and bailey on the highest part of the hill, there is now no trace. The castle later came to be the chief residence of the lords of Gower, and its history became intimately connected with that of Swansea Castle.
The earliest stone building of the castle, the keep, dates from the 12th century. This is the building straight ahead of the entrance. It has been much altered and incorporated into a later block, of which it now forms the southern half. Originally it was a free-standing, rectangular building, entered through an arched doorway, now blocked to the right of the present entrance porch. The great hall would have been on the first floor. Twice the Welsh burnt this early castle, first in 1116 and later in 1215.
In the 13th century the de Braoses were lords of Gower and held the castle, and towards the end of the century Oystermouth rather than Swansea became their principal residence. Edward I paid a brief visit here in December 1284. The de Braoses rebuilt the castle in stone, and most of what remains today is from that period. On the east and west sides is a high and impressive curtain wall with a wall-walk along the top. At its north-east end this leads to a garderobe and then rises to a small tower from which the panoramic view is magnificent. This is a good place from which to appreciate the lovely south window of the chapel. On its north side the castle is enclosed by the outside walls of several residential blocks.
The castle entrance on the south side is an arched passage flanked by what were originally two half-round towers. These have had their fronts hacked off, and the remainder patched and tidied up. Inside the castle the southern part is an open courtyard, with remains of two long, rectangular buildings against the curtain walls on either side of the entrance. The rest of the castle buildings fill the northern end. Behind the keep is a rectangular room with small windows and a fireplace in the south wall. Above this was the lord's private apartment, or solar, and below is a basement. A narrow passage leads through the top floor of the north-west block, thought to be the earliest stone addition to the castle after the keep. It is a high, three storey block with a barrel-vaulted basement, and similar middle floor, now held up by a modern pillar. In the south-east corner there is a fascinating narrow passage, dimly lit by narrow slits, which leads back to the keep. It skirts round a spiral staircase which can be glimpsed through its slits. To the west of the keep is a small guardroom. The north end of the west range is a three-storey residential building with fireplaces and garderobes on each floor. To the south is a range with steps leading down to two barrel-vaulted basements and steps up to a large, once well-lit room, with the remains of a large fireplace in its west wall. Apparently the de Braoses lived in some comfort here.
There remains the chapel block on the east side, architecturally the high point of the castle. It was added in the early 14th century, and is usually attributed to Lady Alenora de Mowbray, wife of lord John Mowbray who held the castle then. It blends in well with the rest of the castle, but its detail suggest a much greater level of refinement. On the ground floor are a large fireplace, narrow trefoil-headed splayed windows and a garderobe in the south-east corner. Above is a similar floor. But on the top floor was a large chapel, the great glory of which is its east window. This and the other chapel windows, retain their fine tracery, the finest of the period of any window in south-east Wales.
The chapel use was short-lived, for by 1331 the lords of Gower lived elsewhere. A gradual decline set in, and by the 16th century the castle was ruined. It still has the power to stir the imagination.
Swansea Castle
This castle is located at the top of Wind Street in Swansea City Centre.It was a Norman castle first mentioned in 1116 as being attacked by the Welsh. It was established by Henry I's friend Henry de Beaumont, first earl of Warwick, as the seat of administration of the marcher lordship of Gower, which Henry bestowed on him in about 1106. This first castle was of motte and bailey type, and nothing of it remains above ground. The west side of its deep ditch has been excavated to the north of the present remains. It was rebuilt in stone on the same site, probably after being razed by the Welsh in 1217. Nothing remains above ground of this stage either, but the west side of the curtain wall has been found, together with a mural tower. To the south-west of this small castle, called the 'Old Castle', a large roughly rectangular outer bailey was walled in stone late in the 13th century.
