Ewloe Castle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ewloe Castle |
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| Part of Flintshire | |
| Ewloe, Wales | |
Ewloe Castle's curtain wall and Welsh keep
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 Ewloe Castle
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| Coordinates | 53°12′00″N 3°04′01″W / 53.200°N 3.0670°W |
| Type | Motte-and-bailey, hillside castle |
| Height | 10 metres (33 ft) |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Cadw |
| Condition | Ruin |
| Site history | |
| Built | 12th–13th century |
| Built by | Owain Gwynedd Llywelyn the Great Llywelyn ap Gruffudd |
| In use | Open to public |
| Materials | Sandstone |
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Listed Building – Grade I
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Ewloe Castle is a historic Welsh castle located near the town of Ewloe in Flintshire, Wales. It was built by the Kingdom of Gwynedd, which was a powerful Welsh kingdom. This castle was one of the last forts built by the native Princes of Wales. It was left empty when Edward I of England invaded Wales in 1277.
The castle was built using local sandstone. It seems the building work happened slowly over many years and might not have been fully finished. When the English took over the castle, they didn't think it was very important for military use. Because of this, they let it fall into ruin.
Ewloe Castle sits on high ground in an area called Tegeingl. This area was part of north-east Wales, known in Welsh as Perfeddwlad. The castle was placed in a key spot near the road to Chester. This made it important for controlling the Wales–England border. The castle is on a steep hill inside a forest valley. It looks over where two streams meet, with higher land to the south.
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What Ewloe Castle Looks Like
Ewloe Castle has parts of both motte-and-bailey and enclosure castles. It has an uneven curtain wall with parapets (low walls) that surround two courtyards. A ditch carved into the rock protects the south side of the castle.
The Inner and Outer Areas
The upper, triangle-shaped inner ward has a D-shaped tower. This tower is known as the "Welsh keep". It stands on a rocky outcrop, which acts like a motte (a raised earth mound). The base of the tower has a stone wall around it for extra protection.
The lower outer ward is surrounded by two separate wall sections. These walls meet at a round fortified tower on a rocky knoll. Since the curtain walls are not connected, people would have needed ladders to reach their tops.
How to Get Inside
There were no gates connecting the inner and outer courtyards. You could only get into Ewloe Castle using wooden ramps. The outer ward had several wooden buildings. An outside defensive earth bank is on the higher ground south of the castle, above the rock ditch.
The Welsh Keep
Inside the inner ward is the D-shaped tower, or "Welsh Keep." Stairs lead up to a first-floor entrance. This is similar to other military buildings from that time. However, the shape of the tower is different from keeps built later by the Plantagenet kings. D-shaped towers usually stuck out from a wall or gatehouse. But at Ewloe, the builders put the tower on a motte in the upper ward. It was surrounded by its own curtain wall. This type of design was common in Welsh military buildings. For example, Llywelyn the Great built a similar D-shaped tower at Castell y Bere in the 1220s.
The outer walls of the tower were about 2 m (6 ft 7 in) thick at the bottom. They rose to about 11 m (36 ft) high. The walls were taller than the upper floor to protect its sloped roof from attacks. A low wall (parapet) ran around the top of the tower. Spaces in the stonework show where storage areas were in the upper roof. The tower had one main hall on the first floor, above a ground floor room. Narrow openings called arrowslits were on the curved sides of the tower for defense. The flat side, which faces the outer ward, has a window in the Romanesque style.
Castle History
Building the Castle
For a long time, people thought Ewloe Castle was built around 1257 by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. But now, experts believe it was started much earlier by Llywelyn's grandfather, Llywelyn ab Iorwerth. Some think it was built between 1213 and 1218, or between 1221 and 1237.
It's possible an older fort was already here in Ewloe Woods. This might have been after Owain Gwynedd, a Welsh prince, won the Battle of Ewloe against Henry II in 1157. If building started in the 1210s, Ewloe might have helped Ranulf de Blondeville, the Earl of Chester, become friends with Llywelyn. After 1218, they stayed allies until the earl died in 1237.
Taking Back and Fixing Up
In the early 1240s, there were long arguments over who controlled the area of Mold. Ewloe was used as a meeting place for talks between Llywelyn's son, Dafydd ap Llywelyn, and officials from Henry III of England. These talks failed, leading to a war from 1244 to 1246. After Dafydd ap Llywelyn was defeated, the Welsh seem to have left Ewloe. This happened when English rule was set up again in this part of north-east Wales.
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Llywelyn ap Gruffudd recaptured Ewloe and fixed it up during his forces' reconquest of the Perfeddwlad in 1256–57. The castle was again the site for talks between the Welsh and the English in 1259 and 1260.
Why the Castle Was Left Behind
In 1276, Edward I started the first Welsh War. He marched his forces from Chester along the coast of the Dee Estuary. After setting up a base at Flint, building work immediately began on Flint Castle. Ewloe is not mentioned in the war records of 1276–77. However, there seems to be a siege work outside the castle, which might mean it was attacked. Ewloe was not important to Edward I because his main castles at Flint and Rhuddlan could get supplies by sea.
The last old records about Ewloe Castle are from the Chester Plea Rolls in 1311. They mention a report sent to Edward II about the history of the Ewloe area since the mid-1100s. The records say that by 1257, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd had taken Ewloe back from the English. He "strengthened" a castle in the wood. In 1311, much of the castle was still standing.
By the late medieval period, the castle was in ruins. A lot of the finely cut stone from its walls and keep was taken away. This stone was used to build things around Mold and Connah's Quay.
Protecting Ewloe Castle Today
Ewloe Castle is a Grade I listed building, which means it's a very important historical site. It is part of Wepre Park, a large park managed by Flintshire County Council. The castle is looked after by Cadw, which is the national heritage agency for Wales. You can reach the castle by walking on paths through Wepre Woods. It's free to visit.
In November 2009, the castle was part of a sale of farmland and woodland by Flintshire County Council. The council made sure that Ewloe Castle and its land were protected from any building. It was sold at an auction to a farmer, along with 24 acres (9.7 ha) of land around it, for £122,000.
See also
