Exploring the Historic Castles of North Wales

Why North Wales Has More Castles Than You Can Visit in a Week

Nowhere in Britain packs so much medieval military architecture into so small an area. Within roughly forty miles of coast and mountain you can stand inside four of the finest fortresses in Europe, plus a scatter of native Welsh strongholds that predate them by half a century. The explanation is geography and politics in equal measure. The ridges of Snowdonia made the north a natural citadel, while the narrow coastal plain offered the only realistic route for an invading army from England. Whoever held Conwy, Caernarfon and the Menai Strait held Gwynedd — and Gwynedd was the last part of Wales to fall.

Edward I's Iron Ring

After Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Prince of Wales, was killed near Cilmeri in 1282, Edward I was determined that nobody should attempt the same thing again. His answer was a chain of castles with planted English boroughs attached: Flint, Rhuddlan, Aberystwyth, Builth, and the great quartet at Conwy, Caernarfon, Harlech and Beaumaris. Master James of St George, a Savoyard mason, directed much of the work, and the speed of it remains staggering.

• Conwy (begun 1283): the town walls survive almost entire, giving you three-quarters of a mile of parapet walk above the rooftops, free to enjoy and open for most of the day. The castle itself was largely finished within four years.
• Caernarfon: polygonal towers banded with strips of different-coloured stone, in a deliberate nod to the walls of Constantinople. It was the costliest of the four and remains the most theatrical.
• Harlech: a compact, muscular design on a rocky crag with the coastal plain spread out below. Owain Glyndŵr took it in 1404 and held it for five years, and the song Men of Harlech belongs to that episode.
• Beaumaris (from 1295): the most technically accomplished concentric castle in Britain, and it was never finished. Moat, symmetrical inner ward and a tidal dock for supply ships — the whole scheme reads clearly from the ramparts.

The Castles of the Welsh Princes

Long before Edward's masons arrived, the princes of Gwynedd were building in stone. These sites are smaller, quieter and often sited to a different purpose: controlling mountain passes and grazing country rather than subjugating a nation. Several are free to enter and see only a handful of visitors on a summer afternoon.

• Dolwyddelan, in the Lledr valley, traditionally the birthplace of Llywelyn the Great.
• Dolbadarn, a slender round tower above Llanberis, where Llywelyn ap Gruffudd imprisoned his own brother Owain for more than twenty years.
• Castell y Bere, an isolated stronghold deep in the Dysynni valley, guarding the southern approaches to Gwynedd.
• Criccieth, a native castle later reinforced by Edward, looking out across Tremadog Bay.
• Ewloe, hidden in woodland near the Flintshire border, with one of the few stone keeps attributed to a Welsh prince.

Reading the Landscape: Language and Place Names

Half the pleasure of touring these sites is the language wrapped around them. Castell is simply Welsh for castle, so you will see Castell Conwy, Castell Caernarfon, Castell Biwmares and Castell Harlech on the bilingual signs. Learn a handful of elements and the map begins to explain itself: caer is a fort, aber a river mouth, ynys an island, llan a church enclosure, pen a headland or summit, and gwyn or wen white or blessed.

Welsh is not a heritage curiosity here; it is a working community language. In parts of Gwynedd well over half the population speaks it daily, and you will hear it in shops, on the bus and in the school playground. A cheerful "bore da" or "diolch" is received warmly, and most people will switch happily into English the moment you look puzzled.

Practical Notes for a Castle Trail

Base yourself somewhere central — Caernarfon, Conwy or Bangor — and most sites sit within an hour's drive. Public transport along the north coast is reasonable, though the smaller native castles really need a car or a good pair of legs.

• The larger castles open year round, but several smaller ones close between November and March, so check before a winter trip.
• An annual pass covering the state-managed monuments pays for itself after about three visits.
• The town walls at Conwy and Caernarfon are free to walk, but the steps are steep and the parapets uneven. Sensible shoes matter more than you might think.
• Weather changes fast. A waterproof in the bag is standard practice in these parts, even in July.
• Arrive before ten in summer. Car parks at Conwy and Caernarfon fill quickly, and the light on the stone is better in the morning anyway.

Beyond the Battlements: Living Culture

These castles were never just military hardware. The walled towns Edward planted beside them were meant to be English islands in a Welsh sea, and the tension that created still colours local identity. Caernarfon's castle hosted the investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969, a ceremony many in Wales remember with decidedly mixed feelings. Harlech and Machynlleth carry the memory of Owain Glyndŵr's brief, remarkable principality, while the National Eisteddfod — a week of poetry, music and Welsh-language culture — still travels the country every August.

So allow time beyond the ticket office. Walk the walls, buy a bara brith from a bakery, catch a male voice choir rehearsing in a chapel vestry. The castles tell you how Wales was conquered. The language, the music and the ordinary conversations around them tell you how it survived.