Beaumaris Castle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Beaumaris Castle |
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| Castell Biwmares | |
| Beaumaris, Wales | |
The castle seen from the air
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 Beaumaris Castle
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| Coordinates | 53°15′53″N 4°05′23″W / 53.2648°N 4.0897°W |
| Type | Concentric castle |
| Height | 36 feet (11 m) |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | Cadw |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1295 – c. 1330 |
| Built by | James of St George Nicolas de Derneford |
| Materials | Limestone, sandstone and schist |
| Events | Revolt of Owain Glyndŵr (1400–09) English Civil War (1642–48) |
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
| Part of | Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd |
| Inscription | 1986 (10th Session) |
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Listed Building – Grade I
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Beaumaris Castle (pronounced bew-MAR-is) is a famous castle in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales. It was built by King Edward I as part of his plan to take control of North Wales after 1282.
Building the castle started in 1295. This was after a Welsh uprising led by Madog ap Llywelyn. A huge team of workers built the castle under the guidance of James of St George. However, money for the project was often sent to Edward's wars in Scotland. Because of this, the castle was never fully finished.
Beaumaris Castle was captured by Welsh forces in 1403 during a rebellion led by Owain Glyndŵr. But royal forces took it back in 1405. During the English Civil War (1642–1648), the castle was held by King Charles I's supporters. They surrendered it to the Parliament's army in 1646.
Today, Beaumaris Castle is a ruin, but it's a popular place for tourists to visit. It's known as one of the best examples of a "concentric castle" in Britain. This means it has walls built inside other walls. UNESCO calls it one of the "finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe." It is also a World Heritage Site.
Contents
Why Was Beaumaris Castle Built?
A King's Plan for Wales
For many years, the kings of England and the Welsh princes fought over North Wales. In 1282, King Edward I invaded Wales with a huge army. He wanted to take full control of the area.
After his invasion, Edward decided to make North Wales a permanent part of his kingdom. He divided Wales into new areas, similar to how England was governed. He also planned to build new towns with strong castles. These castles would help him control the land.
Castles were built at Caernarfon, Harlech, and Conwy. Edward also planned a castle and town near Llanfaes on Anglesey. Llanfaes was a very important trading port. But building the other castles cost a lot of money. So, the Llanfaes project had to wait.
Starting the Castle Project
In 1294, a Welsh leader named Madog ap Llywelyn led a revolt against English rule. King Edward quickly stopped the rebellion. After Anglesey was taken back in April 1295, Edward decided it was time to build the castle.
The chosen spot was called Beaumaris, which means "fair marsh" in Norman-French. It was about one mile from Llanfaes. The Welsh people living in Llanfaes were moved to a new settlement called Newborough. This cleared the way for a new English town and a strong castle.
Work on the castle began in the summer of 1295. Master James of St George was in charge of the building. He was the "master of the king's works in Wales." This meant he was responsible for designing and building all of Edward's castles in Wales. Beaumaris became his main focus.
Building Challenges and Costs
Building Beaumaris Castle was a massive effort. In the first summer, about 1,800 workers were on site. This included 450 stonemasons and 375 quarry workers. Wages cost around £270 a week, which was a huge amount of money back then. Sometimes, workers were paid with leather tokens because there wasn't enough real money.
James of St George wrote to his bosses about the difficulties. He explained that they needed hundreds of masons, thousands of other workers, carts, wagons, and boats to bring stone. He also mentioned that workers' pay was often late, making it hard to keep them.
Building slowed down after 1296. By 1300, about £11,000 had been spent, but the castle was still not finished. Work stopped because King Edward needed money for his wars in Scotland. The inner walls and towers were not at their full height. The north and north-west sides had no outer defenses at all.
Work started again in 1306 because Edward worried about a Scottish invasion of North Wales. James of St George continued to lead the work until he died in 1309. Then, Master Nicolas de Derneford took over. Building finally stopped in 1330. By then, £15,000 had been spent, but the castle was still incomplete. A survey in 1343 said it would cost another £684 to finish it, but this money was never spent.
Beaumaris Castle Through the Centuries
Rebellions and Wars
In 1400, a major Welsh rebellion began, led by Owain Glyndŵr. Beaumaris Castle was attacked and captured by the rebels in 1403. However, royal forces took it back in 1405.
Over time, the castle was not well looked after. By 1534, rain was leaking into most of its rooms. In 1539, a report said the castle had only a few small guns and bows. This was not enough to defend it from an attack. By 1609, the castle was described as "utterly decayed."
The English Civil War started in 1642. This was a fight between King Charles I's supporters (Royalists) and Parliament's supporters (Roundheads). Beaumaris Castle was important because it controlled a route between the king's bases in Ireland and his operations in England.
Thomas Bulkeley, whose family had managed the castle for centuries, held Beaumaris for the king. He may have spent about £3,000 to improve its defenses. But by 1646, Parliament had won against the royal armies. The castle surrendered in June. Anglesey rebelled again in 1648, and Royalist forces briefly took Beaumaris back. But it surrendered a second time in October that year.
After the war, many castles were "slighted," meaning they were damaged so they couldn't be used for military purposes. But Parliament was worried about an invasion from Scotland. So, Beaumaris was spared. A garrison (a group of soldiers) was placed inside. When Charles II became king in 1660, the Bulkeley family got the castle back. It seems the castle was then stripped of its valuable lead and other resources, including its roofs.
From Ruin to Tourist Attraction
In 1807, Thomas Bulkeley bought the castle from the Crown for £735. He made it part of the park around his home, Baron Hill. By this time, ruined castles in North Wales were popular with painters and travelers. They found the ivy-covered ruins very "romantic." Beaumaris was visited by the future Queen Victoria in 1832. It was also painted by the famous artist J. M. W. Turner in 1835.
In 1925, Sir Richard Williams-Bulkeley placed the castle under the care of the Commissioners of Works. They started a big restoration project. They removed plants, dug out the moat, and repaired the stonework. In 1950, the castle was given a Grade I listed building status. This is the highest level of protection for buildings of "exceptional national interest."
Beaumaris was made part of the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd World Heritage Site in 1986. UNESCO believes it is one of the "finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe." Today, Cadw, the Welsh government's agency for historic sites, manages Beaumaris Castle as a tourist attraction.
Castle Design and Features
Beaumaris Castle was never fully completed. But if it had been, it would have looked a lot like Harlech Castle. Both castles are "concentric," meaning they have walls within walls. Beaumaris is known for its very regular and balanced design. Historians have called it Britain's "most perfect example of symmetrical concentric planning."
The castle was built near sea-level using local stone from Anglesey. The stone included limestone, sandstone, and green schists. The schist stone was only used in the lower parts of the walls because its use stopped when building paused in 1298.
Outer and Inner Defenses
The castle design includes an inner and an outer ward (courtyard). These are surrounded by a moat, which is now partly filled. The main entrance was called the Gate next the Sea. It was next to the castle's tidal dock. This allowed supplies to be brought directly to the castle by sea. The dock was protected by a wall and a platform for firing weapons.
The Gate next the Sea led into an outer barbican. This was a fortified entrance protected by a drawbridge, arrow slits, and murder-holes. Beyond this was the outer ward.
The outer ward has an eight-sided curtain wall with twelve towers. It enclosed an area about 60 feet (18 m) across. One gate led to the sea, and another, the Llanfaes Gate, led to the north side of the castle. The castle originally had about 300 firing positions for archers. This included 164 arrow slits. Some slits near the ground were later blocked to prevent attackers from using them. The outer gate was clever for its time. It was not directly lined up with the inner gate. This meant any attacker who got through the outer gate would have to walk across an open area, exposed to attacks, to reach the inner gate.
The walls of the inner ward are much stronger. They are 36-foot (11 m) high and 15.5-foot (4.7 m) thick. They have huge towers and two large gatehouses. This inner area is about 0.75-acre (0.30 ha). The inner ward was meant to hold the castle's living quarters and other buildings. These buildings would have stretched along the west and east sides. We can still see some remains of fireplaces for these buildings. It's not certain if these buildings were ever fully built or if they were taken down after the Civil War. If finished, the castle could have housed two important households, like the king and queen.
The D-shaped north gatehouse in the inner ward was planned to be two stories high. It would have had a large hall on the first floor. The south gatehouse was designed to be similar, but even less of it was built before work stopped in 1330.
The inner ward walls have many passageways on the first floor. These allowed people to move between the towers. They could reach guardrooms, sleeping areas, and even the castle toilets. The toilets were designed to be flushed by water from the moat, but this system didn't work very well. The six towers were meant to be three stories high and had fireplaces. The castle chapel was built into one of the towers. It would have been used by the king and his family, not the whole army.
Images for kids
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The entrance way through the southern gatehouse
See also
In Spanish: Castillo de Beaumaris para niños
