Caernarfon Castle

History

Building work continued until around 1330 and cost between £20,000 and £25,000, an enormous sum for the time. Welsh forces under Madog ap Llywelyn captured the half-finished castle during the 1294 rebellion, though the English recaptured it within a year. The fortress lost much of its military importance once the Tudors took the English throne in 1485.

Architecture

The design is traditionally attributed to James of Saint George, Edward I's master mason, and the polygonal towers with banded masonry mark it out from the round-towered castles built elsewhere during the same campaign. Many of the interior buildings were never completed, so the castle looks more finished from the outside than within.

Worth knowing

The castle has hosted the investiture of the Prince of Wales, most recently for Prince Charles in 1969 in front of a huge television audience. It forms part of the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.