Harddwych Gogledd Cymru - The Beauty of North Wales Part II

The first thing you might notice about Wales, and North Wales in particular, is that there are rather a lot of castles. They are usually lumped together as "Welsh Castles" but some are Welsh, and some are 'English'. On our first trip in 2004, we visited as many as we could. From the dark and brooding Dolwyddelan, Criccieth, Dolbardarn (all Welsh,) to the castles which formed the Iron Ring of Edward I's campaign of subjugation - Harlech, Conwy, Caernarfon, Beaumaris... But I'd like to begin this second leg of our tour of North Wales not with the castles, but with some of the places associated with the Princes of Gwynedd.

Author's own photo

Those who've read Sharon Penman's Welsh novels will be familiar with the story of Llewelyn Fawr (the Great) and his English wife, Joan (Joanna) who was the natural daughter of King John. In the church of Saint Grwst in Llanrwst lies the stone coffin, reputed to be that of Llewelyn, who died on April 11th AD1240. Over on Anglesey in the town of Beaumaris, the parish church porch houses Joan's coffin.

Like all medieval princes, Llewelyn was fairly peripatetic and one of his favourite places was his hunting lodge at Trefriw. The story goes that Joan took exception to walking up to the little chapel above Trefiw. But I can recommend that the climb rewards the effort. Services are still held in this 11th century church, and there is evidence that there has been a church here since the 6th century.

The medieval chapel at Llanrhychwyn -  author's photo

A new church was built in Trefiw in around 1230 on the site where St Mary's now stands, where stained glass windows devoted to the royal couple can be seen.
So we can visit these people in death, and see where they prayed, but can we visit where they lived? Well, yes, up to a point. The royal palace at Aberffraw is buried under a housing estate, and there is an ongoing debate as to the exact location of the palace at Abergwyngregyn. In the village there is a raised mound, which has been suggested as some kind of motte, but there is also an old manor house, Pen y Bryn,  dating back to the 17th century which, it is claimed by some, was built on the site of the former palace.

The priory at Llanfaes, where Joan was sent by Llewelyn after an indiscretion, has also long since gone. But in Newborough, the royal 'Llys' has been partially excavated. Drive round the corner too quickly and you'll miss it, in the field above the road, but it's there. Here, at Llys Rhosyr, it is possible to see the footings of the original buildings as well as the views across to the mainland.

author's own photo - Snowdonia in background

I've been to this site two or three times over the last decade and it seems to me that there has been sporadic investigation in the intervening periods, with information boards now erected, and directional stones inscribed with information about the layout of the site. (Readers of Part I of this journey through the area will remember that further along this road is the beach, which leads to Llanddwyn Island.)

Here is my photograph of one of those information boards, showing how the site might have looked. But of course, much of life was spent not in houses, but castles - the construction for which North Wales is famed.

Many of these castles belonged to the Welsh Princes, and it's believed that Llewelyn Fawr was born in an earlier building on the site of Dolwyddelan Castle, which he had built. It offers commanding views of the surrounding landscape, and part of it is still intact. For atmosphere and a feel of the past, it's hard to beat.

Dolwyddelan Castle - my father's photo, and the header for this blog

Other 'native' castles include Criccieth on the Llyn Peninsula. When I visited there in 2004 there was an informative exhibition dedicated to Gerald of Wales, the 12th century chronicler. Standing like a sentinel high above Llanberis and overlooking the lake called Llyn Padarn is the ruin of Dolbadarn Castle, where Llewelyn's grandson, also called Llewelyn, imprisoned his brother, Owain ap Gruffudd. (Brotherly love was generally in short supply in that particular family.)

Like Criccieth, some native castles were taken over by Edward I and extended. At Rhuddlan, Edward went further still and altered the course of the river Clwyd when he built the castle there. Rhuddlan is not as well known, perhaps, as the major Edwardian castles which make up the 'Iron Ring'. Llewelyn Fawr's grandson poignantly became known to history as Llewelyn the Last, defeated by Edward in 1282. Edward began a massive programme of building, using the 'concentric' design of a castle within a castle. He was determined that the Welsh would remain subjugated and at Conwy Castle, he used stones from Aberconwy Abbey which had been the resting place of several Welsh princes. It was a powerful symbol of conquest.

This picture of Caernarfon Castle shows how impenetrable and formidable these structures appeared to be. And yet Caernarfon was breached, in an uprising of 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn and was besieged again during the uprising of Owain Glyndwr (AD1400-1415).

In this, Caernarfon has something in common with Harlech Castle, which was occupied by Owain's forces between 1404 and 1409.

But Caernarfon also shares a secret with Beaumaris Castle on Anglesey, in that it was never actually finished. Wander round Caernarfon and you might not realise, since most castles these days are at least partially ruined. But step inside Beaumaris and you will see that only the outer walls were completed and the castle was never fully inhabited.

The unfinished north gatehouse - Jeff Buck

In over a decade of at least twice-yearly trips, I still haven't visited the sites of all the Welsh castles. All of these sites are well worth a visit; some have a castle or a church to display. Some have much more to show off. Please join me in Part III of this tour when we will go back to Trefriw to visit a haunted Tudor castle and taste the iron water which drew the Victorians to the area. Back in Conwy we will visit two Tudor houses and a suspension bridge built by Telford. And after taking in a couple more Tudor buildings, we'll further explore the changes wrought by the Victorians on the landscape of this beautiful corner of Wales.

Link to Part I

Ruthin - From King Arthur to the Beatles in 528 ft

Packing to stay at Ruthin Castle Hotel, my plan was to write a piece about the history of that building, and the medieval castle ruins in the grounds. As history goes, it packs a punch: the 'modern' castle, built in 1828, was owned by the Cornwallis-West family who entertained Lady Randolph Churchill and Edward VII, who in turn entertained his mistresses, including Lilly Langtry and Patsy Cornwallis-West, the chatelaine, whose daughter married the Duke of Westminster.

Outside, the crumbling walls of the original castle bear testament to the onslaught of Owain Glyndwr in 1400. Created originally by Dafydd, brother of the last native prince of Wales, (and who was executed in 1282, the first high-profile recipient of Edward I's hanging drawing and quartering), the castle was granted to Reginald de Grey, ancestor of Lady Jane Grey.

In 1923 Ruthin Castle opened a clinic for "Internal Diseases" run by the wonderfully named Dr Sir Edmund Ivens Spriggs.


So far, so interesting. But stepping through the archway that takes you on a short walk to the market square, I found a beautiful street with astonishing architecture.

And on almost every house, there was a plaque. I hadn't initially realised, because the first house caught my eye only because it was for sale (alas, well out of my reach.)

The house belonged to Sir John Trefor, one-time speaker of the House of Commons. It seems that Sir John lost his position after an accusation of bribery, but my admittedly limited research points to some aspect of decidedly unfair play on the part of his accusers.


I walked on, thinking little more than how lovely and quaint this street was.

But at the end of Strydd Castell (Castle Street) are the buildings that make up the outline of Ruthin Square. Here I found the old court house, now a bank. At first glance, it is notable for having been the first building subjected to attack by Glyndwr. But a plaque on the wall told me a little bit more about its history:

Here, it seems, a Franciscan Friar, Charles Mahoney, was hanged from the gibbet in 1679. Why was a Friar hanged? I discovered that he had been on his way home to Ireland having been preaching in Europe when he was shipwrecked off Milford Haven and tried to make his way north on foot, in hope of finding passage back to Ireland. Alas, he was arrested, charged with being a catholic priest and hung, drawn and quartered.

He'd had the misfortune to be caught at a time when Titus Oates was having success with his anti-catholic 'smear campaign', the Popish Plot.


On the other side of the square is another building (also now a bank).

Outside this bank is a stone where King Arthur reputedly slew Huail, the brother of Gildas the historian.


According to the life of St. Gildas, written in the 12thc by Caradoc of Llancarfan, when Gildas heard the news of his brother's death, he came from Ireland and was able to kiss Arthur and forgive him.

Walking back towards the castle on the other side of the street, I came upon the 'oldest timber-framed building in Wales'. Nantclwyd y Dre dates from 1435/6 and belonged originally to a wealthy weaver named Goronwy ap Madog. The house was extended throughout the centuries and each room inside is decorated to show the different periods during which the house was inhabited.

Work will begin next year to extend the Tudor garden, to which I was allowed access, even though the house was shut for the winter.*

This section of Strydd Castell is a tenth of a mile and by the time you get to Nantclywd y Dre you are almost back at the castle gateway. One last building brings us almost up to date, though. For this is the home occupied until recently by Cynthia Lennon, wife of John. She ran a restaurant in the town for a number of years.

I spoke to a local estate agent who pointed out that Ruthin is practically unique, in that one can drive straight from the countryside into a medieval town centre - there is no modern 'urban sprawl'.


On other streets in Ruthin you will find Siop Nain, a grade II listed building which, as a print shop in 1850, was used to print the Welsh national anthem, for the first time, in Welsh. In the square is a house which was bought by Hugh Myddleton in 1595. He, apparently, provided London with its first clean water supply.

Further down the hill is Ruthin Gaol, the 'only purpose-built Pentonville style prison open to the public as a heritage attraction' (Ruthin Gaol official website.)

Should you wish to venture a little further away from Ruthin, the abbey of Valle Crucis is unusual in having an upper floor dormitory complete with roof and partially remaining inner walls.

At Llangollen is the famous Pontcysyllte aqueduct, an example of the work of engineer Thomas Telford. If you can manage the climb you can ascend 1818 ft up Moel Famau to see the - alas, never completed - Jubilee Tower, planned in honour of George III's golden jubilee in 1810.

I'm never surprised by the wealth of history and historical sites in Wales, but for me, there was a joyous astonishment to discover how much history is contained within that short walk between Ruthin Castle and the town square. 528 ft only, but 16 centuries. I came looking for a medieval castle; I found so much more.

* Since this article first appeared on the EHFA Blog I have returned to the area, so please look out for a future article about Ruthin and the surrounding area.


[All photos taken by and copyright of the author.]