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FREELANCE PUBLISHER A COMPLETELY NEW WEB RESOURCE, FEATURING INFORMATION ON A DIVERSE RANGE OF SUBJECTS |
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STRONGHOLDS OF SUPPRESSION BY PHILLIP E JONES A BRIEF HISTORY OF ROMAN, NORMAN AND PLANTAGENET CASTLES AND FORTRESSES IN CHESHIRE AND NORTH WALES WHICH WERE CONSTRUCTED AS MILITARY STRONGHOLDS WITH WHICH TO DEFEND THE WIDER AREA AND CONTROL THE DAY TO DAY LIVES OF THE LOCAL POPULATION. 1. ALDFORD CASTLE THE 12TH CENTURY MOTTE AND BAILEY STONE BUILT ALDFORD CASTLE WAS CONSTRUCTED ON THE ORDERS OF LOCAL LORD RICHARD DE ALDFORD AND BECAME PART OF A NETWORK OF CASTLES IN AND AROUND THE CHESHIRE REGION WHICH WERE DESIGNED TO ENHANCE BOTH THE REPUTATIONS AND MILITARY STRENGTH OF THEIR OWNERS. OTHER CASTLES IN THIS NETWORK OF DEFENDED SITES INCLUDED ALDFORD CASTLE'S NEAR NEIGHBOURS PULFORD, BEESTON AND CHESTER. ALTHOUGH LARGELY UNFINISHED, BEAUMARIS CASTLE IS THOUGHT TO BE THE MOST IMPRESSIVE OF EDWARD I RING OF CASTLE'S AND WAS REPORTED TO HAVE CONTAINED AT LEAST 14 MAJOR DEFENSIVE OBSTACLES WHICH WOULD HAVE FACED ANY POTENTIAL ATTACKER. ITS INITIAL CONSTRUCTION WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEGUN IN AROUND 1295, BUT A LACK OF MONEY AND CHANGES IN ENGLISH MILITARY PRIORITIES CONSPIRED TO PREVENT THE FORTRESS BEING COMPLETED. ITS BUILDER, EDWARD'S RENOWNED ROYAL ARCHITECT MASTER JAMES ST GEORGE HAD PLANNED FOR THE NEWEST AND MOST INNOVATIVE DEFENSIVE FEATURES FOR HIS LATEST FORTRESS, BUT WAS ULTIMATELY UNDONE BY FINANCIAL AND POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS OVER WHICH HE HAD LITTLE CONTROL. HAD IT BEEN COMPLETED, BEAUMARIS WOULD HAVE REPRESENTED THE "CUTTING EDGE" OF CASTLE TECHNOLOGY, WITH ITS FOUR DISTINCT LAYERS OF PROTECTIVE WALLS MAKING THE FORTRESS VIRTUALLY IMPREGNABLE TO ANY ATTACKER. THE FORTRESS WAS BUILT ON A PRISTINE AREA OF LAND, WHICH PREVENTED EARLIER BUILDINGS OR THEIR REMAINS FROM HAMPERING THE CONSTRUCTION OF THIS BRAND NEW SUPER CASTLE AND ALLOWING ITS DESIGNER MASTER JAMES ST GEORGE TO OPERATE FROM A "BLANK CANVAS". BUILT ON THE ORDERS OF THE 7TH EARL OF CHESTER, RANULPH BLUNDEVILLE, BEESTON WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED PRIMARILY AS A PUBLIC REBUKE TO THE MONARCH HENRY III, WHO HAD ORDERED BLUNDEVILLE TO SURRENDER CONTROL OF ALL ROYAL CASTLES WITHIN HIS EARLDOM TO THE CROWN, INCLUDING THOSE AT CHESTER, BEGUN IN 1224, HISTORIANS HAVE SUGGESTED THAT THERE WAS LITTLE LOGISTICAL OR MILITARY PURPOSE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF BEESTON CASTLE, FURTHER REINFORCING THE IDEA THAT THE FORTRESS WAS BUILT AS MUCH AS A STATEMENT OF INTENT BY THE HIGHLY INFLUENTIAL EARL RANULPH. THE SITE ON WHICH THE REMAINS OF THE CASTLE STANDS, IS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN THE LOCATION OF BOTH AN EARLY BRONZE AGE SETTLEMENT AND THEN LATER AN IRON AGE HILL-FORT. 4. CAERNARFON CASTLE (ROMAN FORT OF SEGONTIUM) ALTHOUGH THE TOWN OF CAERNARFON IS DOMINATED BY THE MUCH LATER MEDIEVAL CASTLE WHICH WAS BUILT BY THE ENGLISH MONARCH EDWARD I FOLLOWING HIS ARMED CONQUEST OF WALES DURING THE LATE 13TH CENTURY, THE SITE HAD ACTUALLY BEEN THE LOCATION OF A MUCH EARLIER ROMAN MILITARY FORTRESS WHICH WAS BUILT IN AROUND 78AD. THIS FIRST BASE WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED OF TIMBER AND BEEN PROTECTED BY A "FOSSE", A DEEP DEFENSIVE DITCH WHICH FRONTED ALL FOUR SIDES OF THE FORT AND WHICH WAS ITSELF PROTECTED BY AN EARTHEN BANK, MADE UP OF THE SPOIL FROM THE DITCH AND TOPPED WITH A WOODEN PALISADE. THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ACCOMMODATE UP TO 1000 HEAVILY ARMED TROOPS, THE FORT AND ITS MILITARY CONTINGENT WERE REPORTED TO HAVE SAFEGUARDED THE MAIN MILITARY HIGHWAY BETWEEN THE ISLE OF ANGLESEY, SNOWDONIA AND THE MAIN REGIONAL FORTRESS AT CHESTER (DEVA). IT WAS ALSO SAID TO HAVE ACTED AS A SUPPLY BASE FOR THE SMALLER MUCH MORE ISOLATED BASES AT CAER GYBI ON ANGLESEY AND CAER GAI, WHICH LAY NEAR THE SOUTH WEST CORNER OF BALA LAKE. LIKE MOST OF THESE EARLY MILITARY BASES, THE WOODEN BUILDINGS AND DEFENSIVE STRUCTURES WERE REPLACED ON A FAIRLY REGULAR BASIS, DUE IN PART TO THE EXTREMELY DAMP REGIONAL CONDITIONS AND PERIODS WHERE THE CAMP WAS ONLY MANNED BY A REARGUARD UNIT, WHO PROTECTED THE SITE WHILE THE BULK OF THE GARRISON WERE AWAY ON CAMPAIGN OR PATROL. BY THE END OF THE 3RD CENTURY, MUCH OF THE BASE HAD BEEN REBUILT IN STONE AND WAS REPORTED TO HAVE INCLUDED; LEGIONARY BARRACKS, OFFICERS QUARTERS, GRANARY, WORKSHOPS (FABRICA), THE CAMP COMMANDERS ACCOMMODATION AND A HEADQUARTERS BUILDING (PRINCIPIA). RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS OF THE WIDER AREA SEEM TO INDICATE THAT DURING ITS PERIOD OF USE THE MILITARY BASE WAS ATTENDED AND SERVICED BY A THRIVING CIVILIAN SETTLEMENT WHICH GREW UP OUTSIDE OF THE MILITARY DEFENCES AND AS ELSEWHERE IN ROMAN BRITAIN WAS PROBABLY LARGELY MADE UP OF RETIRED ARMY VETERANS WHO WISHED TO REMAIN CLOSE TO THEIR FORMER COMRADES, TRADERS WHO COULD MAKE A LIVING FROM THE TROOPS, AS WELL AS NATIVE BRITON'S WHO APPRECIATED THE SECURITY THAT SUCH A BASE OFFERED THEM. IT HAS BEEN SPECULATED THAT THIS ROMAN CIVILIAN SETTLEMENT WAS THE FOUNDATION OF THE LATER TOWNSHIP OF CAERNARFON AND WHO REMAINED IN THE AREA EVEN AFTER THE ROMAN LEGIONARY'S ABANDONED THE BASE IN AROUND 383AD. BEGUN IN 1283 THE MEDIEVAL CAERNARFON CASTLE IS A LASTING MEMORY OF THE ENGLISH MONARCH EDWARD I AND HIS MILITARY SUPPRESSION OF WALES AND HIS DEFEAT OF THEIR ROYAL PRINCES LLEWELLYN AND DAFYDD. 5. CHESTER CASTLE (ROMAN FORTRESS OF DEVA) ALTHOUGH INEXTRICABLY LINKED WITH ONE ANOTHER, THE ROMAN FORTRESS WHICH WAS BUILT BY THE FORCES OF ROME AROUND THE END OF THE 1ST CENTURY AD AND THE LATER NORMAN CASTLE OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR ARE ENTIRELY SEPARATE MILITARY STRONGHOLDS. CHESTER CASTLE HAD AN IMMENSE AND PIVOTAL INFLUENCE ON BOTH THE MILITARY AND POLITICAL EVENTS FROM THE TIME OF EARL HUGH, RIGHT THROUGH TO THE END OF THE 18TH CENTURY, WHEN MUCH OF ITS ANCIENT FABRIC WAS SWEPT AWAY FOR THE PRESENT DAY STRUCTURES, DESIGNED AND BUILT BY THE NOTABLE NORTHERN ARCHITECT THOMAS HARRISON. SO MUCH OF CHESTER'S HISTORIC CASTLE WAS LOST, THAT ONLY SMALL FRAGMENTS OF THE ORIGINAL STRUCTURES REMAIN, INCLUDING PARTS OF THE INNER CURTAIN WALL, INNER BAILEY GATEWAY AND THE FLAG TOWER. DOMINATING THE ESTUARY TO THE RIVER CONWY, THE CASTLE OF THE ENGLISH MONARCH EDWARD I WAS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED BETWEEN 1283 AND 1287, FOLLOWING HIS SUCCESSFUL MILITARY CAMPAIGNS AGAINST THE TWO WELSH PRINCES LLEWELLYN AND DAFYDD AP GRUFFUDD. REPORTED TO BE ONE OF THE FEW WELSH CASTLES THAT WS BUILT TO DEFEND WALES FROM ENGLISH INCURSIONS, CRICCIETH WAS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED ON THE ORDERS OF WALES'S ROYAL PRINCES, BUT WAS ULTIMATELY TO FALL INTO ENGLISH HANDS AND TURNED INTO A STRONGHOLD OF ENGLISH SUPPRESSION. SET ON A ROCKY PENINSULA OVERLOOKING TREMADOG BAY IT WAS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED DURING THE REIGN OF THE WELSH RULER "LLEWELLYN THE GREAT" BETWEEN 1230 AND 1240. THE CASTLE WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE FINALLY BEEN CAPTURED BY THE FORCES OF THE ENGLISH MONARCH EDWARD I IN AROUND 1283 AND WAS SUBSTANTIALLY REFORTIFIED BY THE ENGLISH INVADERS. ONE OF ITS TOWERS WAS SAID TO HAVE BEEN ADAPTED TO EMPLOY A CATAPULT WHICH COULD RAIN PROJECTILES DOWN ON ANY BESIEGING OR ATTACKING WELSH FORCE, A TASK IT WAS ASKED TO PERFORM A DECADE OR SO LATER WHEN THE CASTLE WAS ATTACKED BY A NATIVE WELSH ARMY. DESPITE BEING SURROUNDED BY ENEMY FORCES, THE ENGLISH GARRISON WAS SAID TO HAVE BEEN RE-SUPPLIED BY SEA, SO WERE ABLE TO WITHSTAND THE SIEGE WHICH WAS LAID AGAINST THEM. HOWEVER, THE CASTLE LATER FELL TO THE NATIVE FORCES OF THE WELSH PRINCE OWAIN GLYNDWR WHO ATTACKED AND CAPTURED THE FORTRESS IN 1404 AND HAVING OVERCOME ITS ENGLISH GARRISON SET FIRE TO THE ENGLISH STRONGHOLD. REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED BY HENRY DE LACY, ONE OF KING EDWARD I MILITARY COMMANDERS DURING HIS WARS AGAINST THE WELSH PRINCES, THIS LATER ENGLISH STRONGHOLD WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE REPLACED AN EARLIER FORTRESS WHICH HAD BEEN BUILT BY THE WELSH PRINCE DAFYDD AP GRUFFUDD, WHO WAS EXECUTED BY THE ENGLISH MONARCH IN 1283. IN RETALIATION FOR THE WELSH PEOPLE'S SUPPORT OF THE TWO WELSH PRINCE'S, DAFYDD AND LLEWELLYN, EDWARD ORDERED THAT THEIR CASTLE AT DENBIGH, ALONG ITS FORTIFICATIONS, SHOULD BE DEMOLISHED AND THEN REPLACED BY AN ENGLISH HELD MILITARY FORTRESS AND A NEW CIVILIAN SETTLEMENT WHICH WAS PROTECTED BY TOWN WALLS. THE BUILDING OF THE NEW CASTLE AND TOWNSHIP WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A SHORT-LIVED WELSH REBELLION IN 1294 WHICH WAS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN LED BY A NATIVE WELSH LEADER CALLED MADOG WHOSE FORCES TEMPORARILY HELD THE ENGLISH MILITARY BASE, BUT THIS UPRISING WAS SAID TO HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED FAIRLY QUICKLY AND THE ENGLISH CONSTRUCTION PROJECT WAS EVENTUALLY COMPLETED. CAERNARFON CASTLE, ALONG WITH MOST OF EDWARD'S NORTH WALES FORTRESSES WAS CONSTRUCTED BY THE RENOWNED MEDIEVAL ARCHITECT AND BUILDER, MASTER JAMES ST GEORGE. DODLESTON IS A 12TH CENTURY MOTTE AND BAILEY EARTHWORK FORTRESS WHICH WAS BUILT ON THE ORDERS OF A NORMAN NOBLEMAN CALLED OSBERNE FITZ TEZZON. 11. DOLBADARN CASTLE THIS 13TH CENTURY CASTLE WAS BUILT ON THE ORDERS OF THE NOTABLE WELSH RULER LLEWELYN AP IORWERTH SOMETIME BEFORE 1230 AND SOUGHT TO DEMONSTRATE THE POWER AND INFLUENCE OF THESE MEDIEVAL WELSH NOBLES. DOLWYDDELAN IS YET ANOTHER SURVIVING CASTLE WHICH OWES ITS CONSTRUCTION TO "LLEWELLYN THE GREAT" THE RULER OF SNOWDONIA IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 13TH CENTURY. BUILT SOMETIME BETWEEN 1210 AND 1240 THE SQUARE FUNCTIONAL CASTLE OCCUPIES A RUGGED RIDGE DEEP WITHIN THE SNOWDONIAN WILDERNESS AND WAS BUILT TO CONTROL A STRATEGIC PASS WITHIN THE WELSH REGION. THE MEDIEVAL REMAINS OF THE CASTLE WERE REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN SUBSTANTIALLY RESTORED DURING THE VICTORIAN PERIOD, SUGGESTING THAT THE FORT IS FAR NEWER THAN IT REALLY IS. DURING ITS EARLY HISTORY IT BECAME A PIVOTAL BASE IN THE ONGOING DISPUTES WHICH AROSE BETWEEN THE ENGLISH FORCES OF EDWARD I AND THE NATIVE PEOPLE OF NORTH WALES. IT WAS SAID TO HAVE FALLEN TO EDWARD'S FORCES IN 1283 AND WAS THEN SUBSTANTIALLY RE-FORTIFIED BY THE ENGLISH. EWLOE CASTLE IS ONE OF THE FEW REMAINING EXAMPLES OF A WELSH BUILT STONE KEEP AND BAILEY CASTLE WHICH WAS CONSTRUCTED ON THE ORDERS OF THE WELSH PRINCE LLEWELLYN AP GRUFFUDD IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE WELSH BORDER REGION FROM ENGLISH MILITARY INCURSIONS. REGARDED AS ONE OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR OF EDWARD I CASTLES IN NORTH WALES, HARLECH WAS CONSTRUCTED BY ITS ENGLISH BUILDERS TO WATCH OVER THE WESTERN COASTLINE OF WALES AND TO GUARD THE SOUTHERN FLANK OF THE WELSH HOMELANDS IN SNOWDONIA. THE FORTRESS WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED TO OFFER SEABORNE ACCESS TO ITS ENGLISH GARRISON, IN ORDER TO PREVENT THE CASTLE FROM BEING STARVED INTO SUBMISSION. HOWEVER, THE LATER RECEDING OF THE WATERS OF TREMADOG BAY HAS DIMINISHED THIS PARTICULAR FEATURE OF THE CASTLE. THE CASTLE, IN COMMON WITH A NUMBER OF OTHER ENGLISH STRONGHOLDS IN WALES WAS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN CAPTURED BY THE FORCES OF THE WELSH LEADER OWAIN GLYNDWR WHO WAS SAID TO HAVE USED HARLECH CASTLE AS THE SITE OF HIS PARLIAMENT IN AROUND 1404. LEGEND SUGGESTS THAT THE INSPIRING WELSH BATTLE HYMN "MEN OF HARLECH" DERIVES FROM THE CASTLE'S PART IN A WAR OF THE ROSES SIEGE WHICH SAW ENGLAND DIVIDED BY THE ROYALIST HOUSES OF LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE. BUILT BY THE NORMAN LORD ROGER DE CLIFFORD TO PROTECT THE BORDER AREA OF ENGLAND AND NORTH WALES, HAWARDEN CASTLE IS AN IMPRESSIVE MOTTE AND BAILEY FORTRESS WHICH HAS WITNESSED HUNDREDS OF YEARS OF TURMOIL, RANGING FROM WELSH REBELLIONS THROUGH TO THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR. TODAY HAWARDEN CASTLE FORMS PART OF THE GLADSTONE ESTATES WHICH WERE FOUNDED BY THE ENGLISH PREMIER WILLIAM GLADSTONE AND WHO MADE HIS HOME THERE. PULFORD CASTLE IS A 12TH CENTURY MOTTE AND BAILEY EARTHWORK DEFENCE WHICH WAS BUILT ON THE ORDERS OF THE LOCAL LORD ROGER DE PULFORD AND WAS PRIMARILY DESIGNED TO DEFEND AND MONITOR THE SHALLOW RIVER CROSSING WHICH LAY NEARBY. THE CASTLE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DEFENSIVE FEATURE AGAINST THE FORCES OF THE WELSH LEADER OWEN GLYNDWR IN HIS BID TO OPPOSE THE MONARCH HENRY IV BOLINGBROKE AT THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY IN 1403. BUILT ON THE ORDERS OF THE 2ND NORMAN EARL OF CHESTER, HUGH LUPUS, SOMETIME AROUND 1080, IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED THAT THIS LATER MOTTE AND BAILEY FORTRESS REPLACED AN EVEN EARLIER ANGLO SAXON POSITION WHICH STOOD ON THE SAME SITE. SHOTWICK WAS BUILT BY LUPUS AS PART OF A REGIONAL DEFENSIVE NETWORK, DESIGNED TO PROTECT THE ENGLISH BORDER REGION FROM REGULAR WELSH INCURSIONS ORIGINALLY CONSTRUCTED IN A STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT POSITION ON THE EASTERN BANK OF THE RIVER DEE, THE GRADUAL AND INEVITABLE SILTING OF THE RIVER, PLUS THE LATER SERIES OF CASTLES BUILT BY EDWARD I IN THE LATE 13TH CENTURY LED TO SHOTWICK BECOMING REDUNDANT AS A DEFENSIVE POSITION. THE CASTLE WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE PASSED BACK INTO ROYAL CONTROL DURING THE REIGN OF HENRY III. RECORDS SUGGEST THAT THE BASE WAS USED AS AN EMBARKATION POINT FOR THE ENGLISH TROOPS OF HENRY III WHO WERE CAMPAIGNING AGAINST THE ROYAL PRINCES OF NORTH WALES AND WOULD INDICATE THAT TROOP SHIPS WERE ABLE TO MOOR VERY CLOSE TO THE CASTLE ITSELF. IN 1327 THE ENGLISH MONARCH EDWARD III WAS REPORTED TO HAVE ORDERED A DEER PARK TO BE ESTABLISHED AT SHOTWICK, WHICH WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN REGARDED AS A MANOR RATHER THAN A CASTLE. MODERN DAY EXCAVATIONS AT THE SITE APPEAR TO SUGGEST THAT THE CASTLE PRECINCTS INCLUDED A SERIES OF PONDS OR SUNKEN GARDENS WHICH MAY INDICATE FISH POOLS OR SOME FORM OF MEDIEVAL DOCK. INFO FACTS: TOP 5 TOURIST DESTINATIONS BY VISITOR NUMBERS; FRANCE (77,000,000), SPAIN (51,700,000), USA (41,900,000), ITALY (39,800,000), CHINA (36,800,000) |
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DOES YOUR LAND OR PROPERTY CONTAIN HIDDEN, LOST OR UNDISCOVERED TREASURES? CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION Produced and maintained by Phillip E Jones @ Mobile 07756 693258 Text: 07914 189032 Mail Contact: 3 Riverside Park, Sealand, Deeside, Flintshire, CH5 2JR |
