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Conwy Castle

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Conwy Castle

Conwy Castle(Welsh:Castell Conwy) is acastlethat was built in theMiddle Ages.It is inConwy,in the country ofWales.It was built byEdward I of England.He built it after he went to Wales and took over control of it, conquering it. He built it between the years of 1283 and 1289. It is part of the city walls. It cost £15,000 to build. The castle has survived wars likeMadog ap Llywelyn.Richard II of Englandhid there in 1399.Owain Glyndŵrtook it over in 1401, too.

After theEnglish Civil Warstarted in 1642, people who supportedCharles I of Englandtook over the castle. They stayed there until 1646, which was when theRoundheadstook it from them. When that war ended, the government partially destroyed the castle, so no one would use it. By 1665 it was completely destroyed because people had taken all of theironandleadfrom the castle and sold it. Artists started making paintings of the castle in the18thand19th centuries.People started visiting it onvacationand it is now ran byCadw.

Conwy Castle was called one of the best Middle Ages military places in Europe byUNESCO.It is aWorld Heritage Site.[1]The castle is rectangular. It is made from localstoneand stone brought from other places. There are two parts of the castle: "Inner Ward" and "Outer Ward". It has eight towers and twobarbicans.There is a gate which has a path that goes down toRiver Conwy.This path let the castle get supplies from boats and fishing. It has one of the oldestmachicolation's in the country. It also has a bedroom which was used by kings and queens.[2]The castle was based on the buildings made byJames of Saint George.

History

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1200s

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A model of Conwy Castle in the 1300s.

Conwywas aCistercianmonasterybefore it was a town. It was often visited by theWelshprinces. It is also a place where a person can cross theRiver Conwygoing from the ocean area to the inland.[3]The area has been owned by kings who have been from England and Wales since 1070.[4]

In 1282Edward I of Englandattacked the castle. He had a bigarmy.They came to the castle from the north. They came fromCarmarthen.They also came from theWest.The army came fromMontgomeryandChester.The town ofAberconwywas captured by Edward in March 1283. He decided to use the castle as the center point for acounty.There used to be anabbeywhere the castle was. Edward had the abbey relocated.[5]He wanted to own the castle so that other people thought he was very powerful.[6]

After Edward decided to build the castle people started building it quickly.[7]Sir John Bonvillars was theforemanfor the building of the castle. AmasonnamedJames of St. Georgealso worked on the project. They started building it in 1283. From 1283 until 1284 they built the walls and towers.[8]Next, they built the buildings inside the castle walls. They also built walls for a town nearby. That took place between 1284 and 1286.[9]They finished building the castle in 1287.[9]People came from all over England to help build the castle. People would meet inChesterand walk to Wales to work at the castle.[10]In total the project cost £15,000. That was a lot of money back then.[9][nb 1]

The castle had a person who was bothconstableand themayorof Conwy. That person also managed 30 soldiers. Acarpenter,chaplain,blacksmith,engineer,andstonemasonworked at the castle.[12]In 1294Madog ap Llywelynstarted to fight against the people who ruled England. King Edward moved to Conwy to escape Madog ap Llywelyn. He lived at the castle from December 1294 until January 1295. He was only able to get supplies and food from the sea. Eventually, soldiers came and helped him in February.[13]After that time, various people lived at the castle. This included Edward's son, who would becomeEdward II of England.He lived there in 1301.[14]

1300s-1400s

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Conwy Castle

The castle fell apart during the14th centurybecause people did not take care of it. By the year 1321 the roof was leaking and the wood was rotting. In 1343,Edward, the Black Princetook over the castle. He fixed it with the help of Sir John Weston. Weston worked for Edward. They added a lot of things, includingarchesto thegreat hall.When Edward died, the castle fell apart again.[15]

Richard II of Englandstarted living in the castle towards the end of the century. He stayed there to escapeHenry IV.[16]When Richard got back fromIrelandon August 12, 1399, and went to the castle, he metHenry Percy.Percy worked for Henry IV. The two talked to help stop the fighting.[17]Percy promised to not hurt Richard. Richardsurrenderedon August 19 to Henry Percy atFlint Castle.He said he would stop being King if he was allowed to live, not die.[18]Richard was taken to London. He died atPontefract Castle.[17]

Arebellionstarted in 1400, during the rule ofHenry IV.It was started byOwain Glyndŵr.This was just after Richard was told he was no longer king. Twocousinsof Owain Glyndŵr,Rhys ap Tudurand his brother Gwilym, attacked the castle as asurprise.They dressed up likecarpentersand acted like they were going to fix the castle. The got inside, killed two watchmen, and took over the castle.[17]Their troops took over the town.[19]The brothers lived there for about 3 months. They gave up after Henry IV promised to forgive them and they would not go to trial.[17]

The castle was almost used during theWar of the Rosesbut by the time the war ended it did not see any activity. The castle went through repairs in the 1520s and 1530s byHenry VIII.The castle was used as aprisonand sometimes people who visited Conwy stayed at the castle.[20]

1600s to today

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The Bakehouse Tower

The castle had fallen apart again by the 1600s.[21]It was sold toEdward ConwaybyCharles Iin 1627. Edward bought it for £100. Edward's son, also namedEdward,took over the castle in 1631. It was aruin.[21][nb 2]In 1642, theEnglish Civil Warstarted.John Williams,Archbishop of York,took charge of the castle for the king. He used his own money to fix the broken parts of the castle.[21]In 1645, SirJohn Owenbecamegovernorof the castle. The two men argued about this, since Williams was supposed to be running it, not Owen.[23]Eventually Williams gave up and moved back to London. The castle was taken over byThomas Myttonbetween asiegein August and November of 1646.[24]

After the siege, Colonel John Carter became governor of the castle. He made more repairs to fix it.[24]In 1655, theEnglish Council of Statewas told, by theParliament of England,to pull down the castle so people could not use it anymore. The Bakehouse Tower was partially torn apart during that time.[24]The castle was given back toEdward ConwaybyCharles IIas part of theRestoration.But, five years later Conway took all of theironandleadthat was on the castle and sell it to make money.[25]A man named William Milward was in charge of taking the iron and lead off the castle. The people who lived in the town of Conwy protested the removal. Conway and Millward did not care and the castle became a complete ruin.[26]

By the end of the18th centurythe castle ruins were called "picturesque"and beautiful. People and artists would visit the castle from around the country. Artists would paint pictures of it, including the artistsThomas Girtin,Moses Griffith,Julius Caesar Ibbetson,Paul SandbyandJ. M. W. Turner.[26]Bridges were built over the River Conwy to the town from theLlandudnoin the 1800s. The new bridges brought moretouriststo the area. The two bridges included theConwy Suspension Bridge,built in 1826, and theConwy Railway Bridge,built in 1848. This allowed people with boats, cars, and riding in trains to visit the castle.[27]The Holland family was running the castle, and in 1865 they gave it to the local government to run. The town helped to restore the ruins and they fixed the Bakehouse Tower.[27]The castle was leased in 1953 to theMinistry of Works.They hadArnold Taylorstart to fix the castle. He also researched the castle's history.[28]A new road was built to the castle in 1958.[27]It was going to be made into amonumentby the country. In 1986 it was called aWorld Heritage Site.[29]

Today it is ran byCadwand tourists visit it. As of 2010, 186,897 people had visited the castle. They opened a newvisitor centerin 2012.[30]The castle always has to be repaired. Between the years 2002 and 2003, it cost £30,000 to maintain and repair the castle.[31]

Architecture

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Plan of the castle

The castle is considered one of the best "examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe," byUNESCO.[1]It sits on thecoast.The coast is made up of a lot of rocks, including greysandstoneandlimestone.Most of the stone that the castle was built out of is from this stone.[32]The sandstone used to make carvings was brought from theCreuddyn peninsula,Chester,andthe Wirral.[33]That sandstone had more colors than the grey sandstone that was local. It might have been chosen not only because it was easy to carve, but also because it was pretty.[33]

The castle is rectangular. It has two different sections, the Inner Ward and the Outer Ward. It has four towers. They are 70-foot (21 m) and there is one on each side of the castle. The castle would have been painted white withlime renderduring its early days.[34]The towers have holes in them, called "putlog holes". These holes were used to help the builders build the towers, by putting woodtimberpieces through the holes so they could climb up the towers.[35]There are also square holes that are found in the castle walls.[36]No one knows what they were used for. Maybe they were used to get rid of water when it rained, used forhoardings,or for displaying decorations.[36]

The main entrance to the castle is through the westernbarbican.[37]That barbican used to go over adrawbridgeand a ramp from the town. Today, the path goes along the east side of the walls.[37]The barbican has some of the oldestmachicolationstones in Britain. In the early days, the gate to the castle was probably protected by aportcullis.[38]

The Outer Ward; the great hall and chapel are located there.

Through the gate is the Outer Ward. When it was first built, this is where administrative duties were. People were handling business and management of the castle.[39]This is where the northwest tower is located. People could live inside of it, and also store things.[40]There is also the southwest tower, which was used by theconstable.There was also abakeryinside of it.[40]On the southside of the Outer Ward, there is a great hall and achapel.There are alsocellars.[41]There is an old great arch from the 1340s.[42]Ajailwas in a tower behind the great hall. There was adungeoninside of it.[43]The north side of the Outer Ward has akitchen,brewery,bakery,and inside the tower people could live and store things.[44]

There used to be a wall that separated the Inner Ward from the Outer Ward. The wall, which was inside the castle, had adrawbridgeand a gate. There was also aditchwhich made it hard to cross if the gate was closed.[45]In the 16th century, the ditch was filled up so people could walk over it and the drawbridge was removed.[46]This is where thespringthat the castle gets it water from is located. Thewellis 91-foot (28 m) deep.[46]The Inner Ward is where the royal guests and residents lived. It is also where their staff and servants lived. The royalbedrooms,also called "chambers", are considered the finest preserved in England and Wales.[2]The Inner Ward was supposed to look like a very small version of a royalpalace.The reason the wall, gate, and ditch were built was so that if there was an emergency or an attack, the Inner Ward could be sealed off from the Outer Ward, which would fight against invasions.[47]

Eastern side of the castle.

The rooms where the royals lived were on the first floor in a series of small buildings.[48]There were four protective towers for the Inner Ward. One of the towers was achapelwhere the royals would have religious services.[48]All of the towers hadturretsfor security. They also each displayed the royal flag.[49]It is believed that this part of Conwy Castle was designed similar to that atCorfe Castle.The king could have his own private time while having a lot of security to keep him and all inside safe.[50]There used to be two apartments inside, but eventually they were made into one apartment with three rooms.[51]

The east side of the Inner Ward has another barbican. This is where the castlegardenis.[52]The royal apartments could see the garden from their windows. There used to be grass there, and thenvines,crab-appletrees, and flowers.[53]There was a small gate that led to a small dock on the river. This allowed visitors to visit and leave the castle with very few people seeing them. It also allowed people to get supplies for the Inner Ward from boats.[54]

The architecture is similar to that found in thekingdom of Savoyduring the 13th century.[55]This includes the way the windows were designed, the positioning of the "putlog" holes. Historians think that Conwy Castle was influenced by the work of architect Master James, from Savoy.[55]The similarities to Savoy architecture might also be because many of the men who worked on building Conwy Castle were from Savoy.[56]

A view from Conwy Castle, looking across the Outer Ward

Footnotes

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  1. ↑We cannot compare medieval and modern prices or incomes. To determine the project cost, we took the information that £15,000 is around twenty-five times the annual income of a 14th-century nobleman such asRichard le Scrope[11]
  2. ↑It's hard to know how much it really cost. We can only determine it based on how much money someone makes today. We used the income that people made in 2011 and compared it to people around 1630. These prices ranged from £15,200 to £3,180,000.[22]

References

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  1. ↑1.01.1"Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".UNESCO.Retrieved12 September2012.
  2. ↑2.02.1Ashbee 2007,pp. 34–35
  3. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 47
  4. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 5;Taylor 2008,pp. 6–7
  5. ↑Pounds 1994,pp. 172–173
  6. ↑Creighton & Higham 2005,p. 101
  7. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 7
  8. ↑Ashbee 2007,pp. 8–9
  9. ↑9.09.19.2Ashbee 2007,p. 9
  10. ↑Brown 1962,pp. 123–125;Taylor 2008,p. 8
  11. ↑Given-Wilson 1996,p. 157
  12. ↑Ashbee 2007,pp. 27, 29
  13. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 10;Brears 2010,p. 91
  14. ↑Ashbee 2007,pp. 10, 35
  15. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 11
  16. ↑Ashbee 2007,pp. 11–12
  17. ↑17.017.117.217.3Ashbee 2007,p. 12
  18. ↑"Richard II, King of England (1367–1400)".Luminarium.org.Retrieved22 May2013.
  19. ↑Ashbee 2007,pp. 12–13
  20. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 13
  21. ↑21.021.121.2Ashbee 2007,p. 14
  22. ↑"Measuring Worth Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount, 1830 to Present".MeasuringWorth.Retrieved12 September2012.;Pugin 1895,p. 23
  23. ↑Ashbee 2007,pp. 14–15
  24. ↑24.024.124.2Ashbee 2007,p. 16
  25. ↑Ashbee 2007,pp. 15–16
  26. ↑26.026.1Ashbee 2007,p. 17
  27. ↑27.027.127.2Ashbee 2007,p. 18
  28. ↑Ashbee 2007,pp. 18–19
  29. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 19
  30. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 19;"Attractions Industry News".Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.Retrieved12 September2012.;"Gwynedd Destination and Marketing Audit"(PDF).Gwynedd Council. p. 22. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2 June 2014.Retrieved12 September2012.
  31. ↑"Part 2: Significance and Vision"(PDF).Cadw. p. 56. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 24 March 2012.Retrieved12 September2012.
  32. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 21;Lott 2010,p. 115
  33. ↑33.033.1Lott 2010,p. 115
  34. ↑Ashbee 2007,pp. 21, 24;Lepage 2012,p. 210
  35. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 22
  36. ↑36.036.1Ashbee 2007,p. 23
  37. ↑37.037.1Ashbee 2007,pp. 24–25
  38. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 25
  39. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 26
  40. ↑40.040.1Ashbee 2007,p. 27
  41. ↑Ashbee 2007,pp. 28–29
  42. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 30
  43. ↑Ashbee 2007,pp. 29–31
  44. ↑Ashbee 2007,pp. 31–32
  45. ↑Ashbee 2007,pp. 32–33
  46. ↑46.046.1Ashbee 2007,p. 33
  47. ↑Brears 2010,p. 86;Ashbee 2007,p. 35
  48. ↑48.048.1Ashbee 2007,p. 34
  49. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 21
  50. ↑Ashbee 2010,p. 83;Brears 2010,p. 86
  51. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 35
  52. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 43
  53. ↑Ashbee 2007,p. 43;Ashbee 2010,p. 77
  54. ↑Ashbee 2007,pp. 43–44
  55. ↑55.055.1Coldstream 2010,pp. 39–40
  56. ↑Coldstream 2010,p. 43

Bibliography

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