Caergwrle Castle - Flintshire North Wales
Caergwrle Castle - Flintshire North Wales 7th October 2010 This is my buddy 345Starlite and myself on a fast camera-shoot Zoom testing our camcorders www.youtube.com/user/345starlite We are at Caergwrle Castle In Flintshire North Wales There is thought to have been a hill fort on this site dating from the late or post-Roman period, but the location's importance goes back to the Bronze Age. Today, the medieval castle ruins are a focal point of a hilly walk from the community of Caergwrle, off the A541 Wrexham-Mold road, and it's managed by Caergwrle Community Council. From the ruins there are far-reaching views over Cheshire and, therefore, England, as it was a border fortification built by Welsh noble Dafydd ap Gruffydd in the 1200s. It's hard to believe it today, but when English king Edward I took over its control in 1282, there had been big plans for the castle. Indeed, if, as was planned by the king, a town was built around the castle then Wrexham may well have been a different place today. Records show 340 carpenters, 600 diggers and 30 masons were employed to start its refurbishment. But it wasn't completed as the castle was gifted by the king to various English nobles. By the 1300s it started to go into decline as these private owners failed to invest in its upkeep unlike the crown when it was first taken under English control. The site was important long before the arrival of medieval man. In fact, a Bronze Age relic, the Caergwrle 'Bowl' - made from shale, tin and gold - was found in 1823 by a workman digging a drain in a field below the castle. The object is considered so important it features in a joint BBC and museums project, A History of the World which casts the spotlight on major historical finds and has been the focus of a TV programme, Symbols: Wales and a History of the World A detailed study of the castle, Excavations at Caergwrle Castle, 1988-1990, written by John Manley, is available to read online along with other resources via the Archaeology Data Service And more information regarding the Caergwrle Bowl can be gleaned from the National Museum of Wales website www.museumwales.ac.uk/ Caergwrle Castle, also known as Queen's Hope in scholarly texts, is located in the town of Caergwrle, in Flintshire, Wales. It was the final castle to be built by Welsh rulers before the loss of Welsh independence in 1283. Construction of the castle began in 1277, after King Edward I gave the lordship of Hope to Dafydd ap Gruffudd as reward for his service in the Welsh war concluded earlier that year. Notable features included two D-shaped towers and a great circular keep overlooking the approach to the south-east. It has been speculated that Dafydd employed English masons to work on the castle, which was apparently unfinished when Dafydd revolted in 1282. By the time Edward had gathered an army to invade Wales in June, Dafydd had already retreated from Caergwrle, and had slighted the castle, even blocking up its well to deny it to the English. Edward promptly began rebuilding the castle, and gave it to his wife, Eleanor of Castile. However, a fire in 1283 gutted the castle, and it was never rebuilt. Today, little remains of the fortifications, other than some earthworks and a smattering of recognisable masonry. The castle is located at the top of a steep hill that may or may not have been man-made.
