View allAll Photos Tagged c1911
Digital ID: 1113238. [No. 99 Cohen Bros. & Co. - Bamberg & Risser - Lord & Taylor, East 19th St.]. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113238
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)
North east transept - east window by James Powell and Sons, c1911 - Presentation in the Temple; Baptism of Christ
We went down to have a look at the old Caernarfon Station on the Welsh Highland Railway.
Unfortunately on the day of our visit (14th May 2018) there was no trains running that day!
The ticket office had moved but was open, but we were told that there wasn't any trains that day, and the leaflet we have confirms it!
Anyway we mainly came to Caernarfon to visit the castle!
The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) or Rheilffordd Eryri is a 25-mile (40.2 km) long, restored 1 ft 11 1⁄2 in (597 mm) narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass. At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway and to the short Welsh Highland Heritage Railway. In Porthmadog it uses the United Kingdom's only mixed gauge flat rail crossing.
The restoration, which had the civil engineering mainly built by contractors and the track mainly built by volunteers, received a number of awards. Originally running from Dinas near Caernarfon to Porthmadog, the current line includes an additional section from Dinas to Caernarfon. The original line also had a branch to Bryngwyn and the slate quarries at Moel Tryfan, which has not been restored. (This branch forms a footpath "rail trail", the lower section of which has been resurfaced and supplied with heritage notice-boards).
There is also the 0.75-mile (1.2 km) long Welsh Highland Heritage Railway which runs from Porthmadog along the trackbed of the former Cambrian Railways exchange siding and connects to the WHR main line at Pen-y-Mount junction.
Caernarfon Station is the northern terminus of the narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway, located in the town of Caernarfon. It was opened on 11 October 1997 when the line was constructed from Dinas.
The railway between Caernarfon and Dinas was formerly part of the standard gauge Carnarvonshire Railway, later LNWR and LMS, between Caernarfon and Afon Wen, which was closed by British Railways in December 1964, and the tracks lifted.
Northwards of the present Caernarfon station, the former standard gauge line ran through a tunnel, which is now used by a public road, to the site of the original Caernarvon railway station. The LNWR was under an obligation to build a station on this site (below Segontium Terrace), however the town corporation waived its claim to this station. The original line continued on to a junction with the Chester and Holyhead Railway just south of the Britannia Bridge, terminating at the now-demolished Menai Bridge Station.
The present station is sited on the former standard gauge trackbed adjacent to St. Helen's Road, opposite the former locomotive works of De Winton & Co and beneath the high retaining walls of Segontium Terrace, which can be reached from St Helen's Road via a pedestrian footbridge. The station buildings accommodate the booking office, a tourist shop and passenger facilities. In the winter of 2005/06 the passenger platform and run around loop at Caernarfon were lengthened to permit the operation of trains up to 10 carriages long.
The narrow gauge line was built from Dinas to Caernarfon in 1997, thus providing the extension to Caernarfon of the Welsh Highland Railway that was originally authorised by Act of Parliament, but never built. Between Caernarfon and Dinas, the new Welsh Highland line shares the old standard gauge trackbed with the 'Lôn Eifion' tourist cycle track. This section of line is operated by the Ffestiniog Railway under the provisions of The Caernarfon Railway Light Railway Order 1997 made 8 October 1997.
The view to Caernarfon Castle. The new Caernarfon Station is being built below.
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
Amazing views of the castle from the top of the Eagle Tower.
Well Tower around to the Chamberlain Tower. After looking around up here, I would go down and walk over the walls towards the North-East Tower.
Other towers seen beyond include: King's Gate, Granary Tower, North-East Tower, Watch Tower and Queen's Gate and Black Tower.
Caernarfon Walled Town to the left.
Digital ID: 1113228. [No. 23 Daniel E. Sickles- No. 41 Miss M.L. Kennedy, East 10th St.]. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113228
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
Queen's Gate facing the car park and St Helen's Road.
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
Up to the top of the Black Tower. Then up the smaller tower on the Black Tower.
The view of the North-East Tower, Watch Tower and Queen's Gate and the Cistern Tower.
Digital ID: 1113231. [West 13th St. No. 72 - Princess Corsets - Ed. Pinaud, perfumerie - West 14th St. -No. 86 S.N. Wood & Co.]. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113231
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
Amazing views of the castle from the top of the Eagle Tower.
View of the Queen's Tower - home of the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum. Exit seen below.
Boats on the Afon Seiont to the right.
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
Up to the top of the Black Tower. Then up the smaller tower on the Black Tower.
The wall walk to the Chamberlain Tower below. Would head that way after heading down from the Black Tower.
Boats on the Afon Seiont to the left.
Digital ID: 1113270. [Portrait of Miss Belle Beach Bain - Miss M.S. Whitney's Champion MARKSMAN - Miss Bain and Her own Champion pony, Jack London.]. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113270
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)
Digital ID: 1113244. [Metropolitan Tower - Madison Square Garden - Brunzwick Building, East 26th St.]. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113244
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)
Digital ID: 1113227. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113227
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)
Digital ID: 1113229. [West 11th St - No. 62 Mrs. Geo. L. Kingsland, West 12th St.]. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113229
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)
Digital ID: 1113224. Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish 1911. [Title page with illustrations of Washington Arch, The New York Public Library and Richard Morris Hunt Memorial]. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113224
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)
This image was scanned from an original glass plate or negative, kindly provided by the Australian Railway Historical Society, New South Wales Division.
Notes
This image was taken at J and A Browns Hexam engineering sheds. Number 11 Hexham was one of three Kitson and Co, Leeds, England, 2-8-0 Tank engines. Their numbers and names were, No. 9 Pelaw Main c1908, No. 10 Richmond Main c1911 and No 11 Hexham c1911. The locomotive in this image was cut up in September 1968. Number 9 and 10 are at the Richmond Vale Railway Museum.
Source
The Richmond Vale Railway /R G Preston, page 58-59.
The Railways of J & A Brown / Gifford H Eardley, page 85-86
This image can be used for study and personal research purposes. If you wish to reproduce this image for any other purpose you must obtain permission by contacting the University of Newcastle's Cultural Collections.
If you have any further information about the image, please contact us or leave a comment in the box below.
Christ Church United Reformed Church, Port Sunlight, Merseyside, 1902-04.
Formerly Congregational.
East Window, c1911.
By Heaton, Butler & Bayne.
The gift of William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851-1925) in memory of his parents.
The east window is a wall of glass of sixteen lights in all.
This is the left window of five lights.
It contains the words “Suffer little children to come unto me” and is an illustration from the gospels of mothers bringing their children to Jesus. Children were very important to Viscount Leverhulme and even more so to his wife.
TO THE MEMORY OF JAMES AND ELIZA LEVER, PARENTS OF THE FOUNDER OF PORT SUNLIGHT, WHO WISHES HERE TO PLACE ON RECORD THE FACT THAT PORT SUNLIGHT WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE OF REALIZATION BY HIM WITHOUT THE INFLUENCE OF THEIR EXAMPLE & CAREFUL TRAINING.
Clement Heaton (1824-1882), the son of a Methodist minister in Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, was in 1851 a glass painter for William Holland of Warwick. He was in London by 1853 and briefly in business alone before going into partnership with James Butler (1830-1913) in 1855. Around 1860 the two briefly shared premises with Clayton and Bell, an association of lasting importance, as the third member of the firm, Robert Turnill Bayne (1837-1915), who was also from Warwick and became chief designer in 1862, was an employee of theirs. Heaton pioneered the use of softer colours, but Bayne’s advent brought the firm to widespread attention. Most of their earlier glass was gothic in style, but the firm adapted to later influences, notably that of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The firm was used widely by Sir Arthur Blomfield, but in later years less of its output was glass for churches. Heaton’s son Clement John joined for a short time, but fell out with his partners. The firm continued until 1953 under descendants of other partners, after which most of its archives were destroyed for lack of interest.
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
The Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum. Entrance is via the Chamberlain Tower. Then head down the corridor and most of the exhibition was on multiple floors of the Queen's Tower.
The story of Wales's oldest infantry regiment.
Was limited by what I could take in the museum proper, so didn't get too much. This was in the Queen's Tower.
British solider during the Napoleonic Wars
title: df
artist: df
tool: mouse
country: zh-CN
date: 7-14-2010
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A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
The Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum. Entrance is via the Chamberlain Tower. Then head down the corridor and most of the exhibition was on multiple floors of the Queen's Tower.
The story of Wales's oldest infantry regiment.
Gun captured by Capt. E. W. D. Bell,
Royal Welch Fusiliers at the Battle of the Alma.
20 Sept 1854 for which exploit he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
The 'Bell' Gun
This is the Russian 12 pounder field gun captured, with it's horses, by Captain E. W. D. Bell VC at the Battle of the Alma during the Crimean War, 20 September 1854. Manned by a trained gun crew it could fire a 177mm diameter ball weighing 5.4 kg up to 800 metres about once every two minutes. The wheels and the bucket are reproductions - all the rest is original.
Plaque
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
Chamberlain Tower, Queen's Tower, Eagle Tower, Well Tower and King's Gate.
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
The Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum. Entrance is via the Chamberlain Tower. Then head down the corridor and most of the exhibition was on multiple floors of the Queen's Tower.
The story of Wales's oldest infantry regiment.
Gun captured by Capt. E. W. D. Bell,
Royal Welch Fusiliers at the Battle of the Alma.
20 Sept 1854 for which exploit he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
The 'Bell' Gun
This is the Russian 12 pounder field gun captured, with it's horses, by Captain E. W. D. Bell VC at the Battle of the Alma during the Crimean War, 20 September 1854. Manned by a trained gun crew it could fire a 177mm diameter ball weighing 5.4 kg up to 800 metres about once every two minutes. The wheels and the bucket are reproductions - all the rest is original.
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
Walk along a lower wall from the Black Tower to then go up to the Cistern Tower.
Views of the Chamberlain, Tower, Eagle Tower, and King's Gate.
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
Eagle Tower
Digital ID: 1113281. [West 57th St. - Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt - Hotel Plaza - West 59th St.]. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113281
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)
Digital ID: 1113287. [No. 834 Frank J. Gould - No. 838 William Watts Sherman - No. 840 John Jacob Astor - No. 844 J. P. Morton.]. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113287
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)
Believed to be in Public Domain From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Collections. More on copyright: What does "no known restrictions" mean?
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Public Domain. Additional source description and credit info from the Library of Congress:
CALL NUMBER: LOT 13559, no. 23 [P&P]
Check for an online group record (may link to related items) REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-DIG-ppmsca-05008 (digital file from original)
No known restrictions on publication. No renewal in Copyright office.
SUMMARY: Rock and tent provide shelter for Bedouins.
MEDIUM: 1 photographic print: stereograph, unmounted.
CREATED/PUBLISHED: c1911 January 27.
CREATOR:Underwood & Underwood, photographer.
NOTES: J151181 U.S. Copyright Office.
Title from item.
No. U-99057.
SUBJECTS:
Bedouins--Structures--Palestine--1910-1920.
Dwellings--Palestine--1910-1920.
Tents--Palestine--1910-1920.
FORMAT:
Stereographs 1910-1920.
Photographic prints 1910-1920.
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
DIGITAL ID: (original) ppmsca 05008 hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.05008
CARD #: 2004672908
Sorry to see that since I last photographed Edward's family grave and memorial on 2 March 2008, the headstone is now sitting off its plinth :o(
Those photos are in the comments section below.
11 Jan 2022: Julia and Edward's GG Granddaughter kindly sent me the image of Julia's grave shortly after she had died in 1898. It can be seen here:
Rifleman Edward Henry VAZEY M.M. (Military Medal)
‘Eddie’
Beloved son of
Edward & the late Julia VAZEY
Who was Killed in Action, Messines, France
22 June 1917 - aged 19 years
And of his chum
Rifleman Hector WALKER
Killed in Action 7 June 1917
Aged 22 years
Until we meet again
Edward’s parents & siblings headstone to the right:
In loving memory of
Julia
The beloved wife of
Edward H VAZEY
Died March 17 1898
Aged 39 years
Also Ruby and Pearl
Twin children of the above
Born November 16th, 1894
Died February 15th and 27th 1895
Also to the memory of
Edward H VAZEY
Beloved husband of the above
Died 27 January 1925
Aged 76* years
JULIA
ANGLICAN DIVISION C Row 3, Plot 20
Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 64, 17 March 1899, Page 8
In loving remembrance of my dear wife Julia, who died March 17, 1898 at Auckland.
We miss thee from our home, dear mother,
We miss thee from thy place,
A shadow o’er our life is cast,
We MISS the sunshine of thy face.
We miss thy kind and willing hand,
Thy fond and earnest care,
Our home is dark without thee,
We miss thee everywhere.
Inserted by her loving husband and children. – Edward H. Vazey, Boston Road, Auckland.
[other memorial notices inserted by her daughters Nelly and Katie; and her sister Mrs HAYNES of Mercer] [4]
Julia gave birth to:
1877 George John; died 15 April 1955 aged 77, marine engineer buried Waikumete PROTESTANT LAWN A Row 8, Plot 44
1881 Frances Kate married Sidney Francis ASHBY c1907
1883 Charles Edward
1885 Eva married Harold William John HARPER c1911
1887 Julia married George SOLOMON c1920
1891 Henrietta
1892 Mildred May died 14 Oct 1962 aged 70, buried Waikumete ANGLICAN DIVISION C Row 3, Plot 18
1895 Ruby died 1895
1895 Pearl died 1895
1898* Edward Henry Patrick died 1917
EDWARD junior
Born: 17 March 1896* [sic – military records], Auckland and registered as Edward Henry Patrick when birth registered
Military number: 26718
Occupation at enlistment: Stereotyper for Brett Printing Co.
Fair complexion; blue eyes; light brown hair
July 1916 suffered influenza
Awarded the M.M. for acts of gallantry in the field
Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 227, 22 September 1917, Page 4
HOW RIFLEMAN VAZEY DIED.
MILITARY MEDAL WELL WON.
Mr. E. H. Vazey, of Edwin Street, Newton, by last mail received a letter from Lieut. A. J. F. Berry, N.Z. Rifle Brigade, relating certain facts connected with the death of the former gentleman's son at the battle of Messines. Rifleman Edward Henry Vazey was born in Auckland, and went away with the Seventeenth reinforcements when 19 years of age. Prior to going to the war he was an employee of the Brett Printing and Publishing Co. The following is the letter from Lieut. Berry:—
"Perhaps a word or two from one who knew your son, and was with him when his end came, will help in your sorrow. I was your son's platoon commander, from the time he joined until he met his death, and knowing him as I did I can sympathise with you in your loss. As a soldier be was always very keen and most reliable. It was during the fighting at Messines that he showed his real worth, and for his excellent work done during those operations I recommended him for a decoration which, alas! he will never wear. When I told him how, pleased I was with the work he had done he replied that he had only tried to do his job. On the morning of the advance on Messines he received a slight wound in the forearm, tout had no thought of turning back, as the sergeant in charge of his section had also been slightly wounded, but was still leading his men. Some days later, in a night attack on the Hun trenches, your son again distinguished himself. When we had gained our objective he went out and got into touch with the units on our right and left and later took a message back through a very heavy artillery barrage. He was absolutely fearless, and seemed to revel in doing a job that had a spice of danger about it. We were all very sorry when he was fatally shot in the head by a machine-gun bullet. His Military Medal was deservedly won, and is a fitting tribute to the work which he did as a soldier." [1]
Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 160, 6 July 1917, Page 2
AUCKLAND RECIPIENTS.
Private Edward Vazey. who is reported as having been killed in action, gained the Military Cross for gallantry in the field, he was born in Auckland, his father being Mr. Edward Vazey, a well-known resident of Newton and a veteran of the Maori War. Private Vazey left with the 17th Reinforcements and was with the Rifle Brigade when he met his death. He was only nineteen years of age, but being of particularly good physique, enlisted when he was seventeen years of age being then a member of the staff of the stereotyping department of the Star.[3]
A photo of him is available at the national museum:
“Killed in action at Messines (22.6.17) Rifleman Vazey came of a fighting family. His father fought and was wounded in the Maori War and his grandfather was a veteran of the Crimean War, having served in H.M. 58th Regiment.”
ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServle...
Restrictions may apply: Special conditions apply to using or handling this record for preservation reasons.
CWGC site record: www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1738369
Cenotaph website record [with photo]: muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/Cenotaph/RecordDetail.a...
Vazey's 'chum' also mentioned on the headstone has a Cenotaph record with portrait here:
muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/cenotaph/RecordDetail.a...
EDWARD senior
ANGLICAN DIVISION C Row 3, BETWEEN Plot 18-20
Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 22, 28 January 1925, Page 4
FOUND DEAD ON LANDING.
BODY OF ELDERLY MAN, A MILKMAN'S DISCOVERY.
The body of an old man in a partial state of decomposition was the gruesome discovery of a milkman doing the rounds in the vicinity of Belgium Street, Newton, yesterday. Deceased was named Edward Vazey, and was one of the milkman's regular customers, residing at 12 Edwin Street. When making his usual call at about 7 o'clock yesterday morning, the milkman noticed that the milk he had left on the previous day had been left untouched and upon further investigation he discovered the dead body on the landing at the top of the stairs. The Newton police were informed and the body subsequently removed to the hospital mortuary. Deceased was 76 years of age and he had been receiving medical attention an inquest will not be necessary.
[2]
Occupation: Blacksmith
Aged stated as 77 on cemetery database
Update 11 Jan. 2022: Edward Senior was a Maori War Veteran, enrolled under the name of Edward ANDREWS** in the Armed Constabulary on 10 December 1868 and he voluntary discharged on 16 March 1870. He was wounded in the elbow at the taking of a pa and also fought in the Urewera. His military personnel record is available at:
www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=22347673
There is a probate available for a Edward Henry VAZEY 1925 but additional archives description states “Avondale – Police Officer”
archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=23091960
PEARL
ANGLICAN DIVISION C Row 3, Plot 20
Aged 10 weeks
Funeral director: “Family involved”
RUBY
ANGLICAN DIVISION C Row 3, Plot 20
Funeral director: “Family involved”
…at her parents’ residence. Anglesea street, Ponsonby, Ruby, twin daughter of Edward and Julia Vazey; aged 11 weeks. The Lord said “Suffer little children to come unto me.” Private interment.[3]
* according to NZ Dept Internal Affairs historic BDM indexes or transcription error on their part.
**his mothers second husband's surname but as an adult took back onboard VAZEY as his surname.
SOURCES:
Cemetery database
NZ Dept Internal Affairs Historic BDM indexes
[1]
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=AS...
[2]
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=s...
[3]
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=s...
[4]
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
Queen's Gate seen from St Helen's Road.
North nave window by Heaton, Butler & Bayne, c1911, depicting the Holy Family presided over by an angel.
St Paul's church at Woodhouse Eaves dates back to 1837 when it was built to the designs of William Railton and subsequently altered with transept extensions in 1880. It is a substantial 19th century church with a west tower and a wide nave flanked by double-transepts and a narrower chancel beyond, all in a pseudo-Early-English style with lancet windows throughout.
The inside is light and spacious and feels a well loved and maintained church. There is a good mixture of Victorian glass in many of the windows, but the most rewarding here are the smaller pair of Arts & Crafts windows in the chancel by Theodora Salusbury.
Woodhouse Eaves church is probably normally kept locked like most in the area outside of service times, but is worth seeing inside if at all possible.
title: bigbang
artist: lucca
tool: mouse
country: pt
date: 7-12-2010
colors: 400
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background: #110811
size: 1352 x 540
action: drips.nalindesign.com
artist: lucca
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Digital ID: 1113243. [West 23rd St. - United Cigar Co. - Albemarle Hotel - Hoffman House - No. 202 Berlitz, School of Languages.]. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113243
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
Investiture Dais - the disc of Welsh slate was the site of the investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969.
Behind is the Granary Tower and North-East Tower.
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
The Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum. Entrance is via the Chamberlain Tower. Then head down the corridor and most of the exhibition was on multiple floors of the Queen's Tower.
The story of Wales's oldest infantry regiment.
corridor
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
The floors within the Eagle Tower.
Apartments fit for a King
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
Queen's Gate - the the balcony. The modern version. But here in 1969 the Queen and Prince of Wales looked over at the crowd outside from here!
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
The walk over the walls via the towers. Leaving the Eagle Tower, heading via the Well Tower, around and over the King's Gate, up the Granary Tower, then down the North-East Tower.
Well Tower
Has a well 50 feet (15m) deep and remains of medieval plumbing. The castle's kitchens lie between the Well Tower and the King's Gate.
The entrance via the King's Gate from Castle Ditch.
Caernarfon Walled Town is to the left.
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
Walk along the wall from the Black Tower to the Chamberlain Tower.
View of the King's Gate.
Digital ID: 1113269. [No. 550 L.P. Hollander & Co. - Dreicer & Co. - West 46th St. - Pickslay, jeweler - No. 572 Budd, haberdasher.]. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113269
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)
Digital ID: 1113232. [No. 59 O.T. Luis & Co., East 13th St.- Manhattan Hair Works - East 14th St.]. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113232
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)
Digital ID: 1113254. [No. 303 F.A.O. Schwarz, toys, Haas Bros. - Kinckerbocker Club - No. 327 Geo. H. Everall.]. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113254
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
Granary Tower, North-East Tower, Watch Tower, Queen's Gate and Black Tower.
Investiture Dais - the disc of Welsh slate was the site of the investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969.
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
The floors within the Eagle Tower.
The life of King Edward I's wife, Queen Eleanor of Castile.
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
Above the Queen's Gate.
Investiture Dais - the disc of Welsh slate was the site of the investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969.
Black Tower, Chamberlain, Tower, Eagle Tower, Well Tower, King's Gate and Granary Tower.
Council offices, Newburn, c1911. Buildings Collection. If you would like a printed copy of this image please contact Newcastle Libraries quoting Accession Number 23973
Digital ID: 1113237. Welles & Co. -- Publisher. c1911
Source: Fifth Avenue, New York, from start to finish. (more info)
Repository: The New York Public Library. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.
See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113237
Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, click here)