Ruthin Castle (Welsh : Castell Rhuthun) is a medieval castle fortification in Wales, near the town of Ruthin in the Vale of Clwyd. It was constructed during the late 13th century by Dafydd ap Gruffydd, the brother of Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, on a red sandstone ridge overlooking the valley. Part of the ancient walls still remain and now form part of the Ruthin Castle Hotel.
Ruthin Castle occupies a site that was first used as an Iron Age fort. In 1277, Edward I of England granted the land to Dafydd ap Gruffydd in gratitude for his assistance during the invasion of North Wales. It is unclear whether there was an existing fort on the site or whether Dafydd established the castle. [1] The castle was originally given the Welsh name of Castell Coch yn yr Gwernfor (Welsh Red Castle in the Great Marsh). [2]
The castle was most notably the base of that branch of the noble de Grey family accorded the title "Barons Grey de Ruthyn" and the head of their marcher lordship of Dyffryn Clwyd. It was a base for Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn – the man who could be said to have sparked the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr. [1]
Between 1579 and 1580, the Castle was used for the imprisonment and torture of Welsh poet, recusant schoolmaster Richard Gwyn, who was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Wrexham on 15 October 1584. Gwyn was canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. [3]
At the start of the English Civil War the castle was in a state of disrepair and the necessary works were hastily performed to make it defensible. It withstood an eleven-week siege by parliamentary troops in 1646 before surrendering when the attackers announced that they intended to lay mines under the walls. Oliver Cromwell's forces later dismantled and demolished the castle, in a process of organised de-fortification called slighting. [1]
In 1923 the castle became Britain's first private hospital for the investigation and treatment of obscure internal diseases,[ citation needed ] but this was closed in about 1950. Since the 1960s the castle remains have been incorporated into a hotel. A guest was Prince Charles, who stayed for the night before his investiture as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle in 1969. [2] The castle is said to be haunted;[ citation needed ] because of this reputation, it was investigated by the paranormal investigation show Most Haunted in 2018.
Owain ap Gruffydd, commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander in the late Middle Ages, who led a 15-year-long Welsh revolt with the aim of ending English rule in Wales. He was an educated lawyer, forming the first Welsh parliament under his rule, and was the last native-born Welshman to claim the title Prince of Wales.
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Llywelyn II, also known as Llywelyn the Last, was Prince of Gwynedd, and later was recognised as the Prince of Wales from 1258 until his death at Cilmeri in 1282. Llywelyn was the son of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ap Iorwerth and grandson of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, and he was one of the last native and independent princes of Wales before its conquest by Edward I of England and English rule in Wales that followed, until Owain Glyndŵr held the title during the Welsh Revolt of 1400–1415.
Ruthin is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. It is Denbighshire's county town. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and Rhewl. The name comes from the Welsh rhudd (red) and din (fort), after the colour of sandstone bedrock, from which the castle was built in 1277–1284. The Old Mill, Ruthin, is nearby. Maen Huail, a registered ancient monument attributed to the brother of Gildas and King Arthur, stands in St Peter's Square.
The Kingdom of Gwynedd was a Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain.
Dolbadarn Castle is a fortification built by the Welsh prince Llywelyn the Great during the early 13th century, at the base of the Llanberis Pass, in northern Wales. The castle was important both militarily and as a symbol of Llywelyn's power and authority. The castle features a large stone keep, which historian Richard Avent considers "the finest surviving example of a Welsh round tower". In 1284 Dolbadarn was taken by Edward I, who removed some of its timbers to build his new castle at Caernarfon. The castle was used as a manor house for some years, before falling into ruin. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was a popular destination for painters interested in Sublime and Picturesque landscapes. It is now owned by Cadw and managed as a tourist attraction, and is protected as a grade I listed building.
Castell Dinas Brân is a medieval castle, built by the Princes of Powys Fadog, which occupies a prominent hilltop site above the town of Llangollen in Denbighshire, Wales. The presently visible stone castle was probably built in the 1260s by Gruffydd Maelor II, a prince of Powys Fadog, on the site of several earlier structures, including an Iron Age hillfort.
Powys Fadog was the northern portion of the former princely realm of Powys. The princes of Powys Fadog would build their royal seat at Castell Dinas Brân, and their religious center at Valle Crucis Abbey. Some of its lordships included those of Maelor, Mochnant, Glyndyfrdwy, Yale, and Bromfield and Yale. Following the division of Powys, their cousin branch, the princes of Powys Wenwynwyn, would build Powis Castle.
Powys Wenwynwyn or Powys Cyfeiliog was a Welsh kingdom which existed during the high Middle Ages. The realm was the southern portion of the former princely state of Powys which split following the death of Madog ap Maredudd of Powys in 1160: the northern portion (Maelor) went to Gruffydd Maelor and eventually became known as Powys Fadog; while the southern portion (Cyfeiliog) going to Owain Cyfeiliog and becoming known, eventually, as Powys Wenwynwyn after Prince Gwenwynwyn ab Owain, its second ruler.
Castell y Bere is a Welsh castle near Llanfihangel-y-pennant in Gwynedd, Wales. Constructed by Llywelyn the Great in the 1220s, the stone castle was intended to maintain his authority over the local people and to defend the south-west part of the princedom of Gwynedd. In 1282, war with Edward I of England resulted in the death of Llywelyn's grandson, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, and Castell y Bere fell to English forces. Edward I expanded the castle further and established a small town beside it. In 1294 the Welsh leader Madog ap Llywelyn mounted a major revolt and the castle was besieged and apparently burnt. Edward did not repair it and it became ruined. Today it is in the hands of Cadw and operated as a tourist attraction.
Rhuddlan Castle is a castle located in Rhuddlan, Denbighshire, Wales. It was erected by Edward I in 1277, following the First Welsh War.
Perfeddwlad or Y Berfeddwlad was an historic name for the territories in Wales lying between the River Conwy and the River Dee. comprising the cantrefi of Rhos, Rhufoniog, Dyffryn Clwyd and Tegeingl. Perfeddwlad thus was also known as the Four Cantrefs.
Caergwrle Castle, also known as Queen's Hope in scholarly texts, is a castle located in the town of Caergwrle, in Flintshire, Wales. It was built by the Welsh under Dafydd ap Gruffydd in service to Edward I of England. When Dafydd's forces rebelled against the English, Edward sent Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton to take the castle in June 1282, but Dafydd had retreated and sabotaged the structure. Rebuilding works began, and it was given to Edward's wife, Eleanor of Castile. A town was planned at the base of the castle, but this was abandoned after a fire broke out in September 1283 when both Edward and Eleanor were present. It was passed down the royal line, but was never rebuilt. In 1823, a workman discovered the Caergwrle Bowl near the castle; it is a unique Bronze Age bowl.
Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey of Wilton was an English nobleman after whom one of the four Inns of Court is named. He was son of Sir John de Grey and grandson of Henry de Grey. The property upon which Gray's Inn sits was once Portpoole Manor held by Reginald de Grey.
This article is about the particular significance of the century 1201–1300 to Wales and its people.
Events from the 1280s in England.
The history of Gwynedd in the High Middle Ages is a period in the history of Wales spanning the 11th to the 13th centuries. Gwynedd, located in the north of Wales, eventually became the most dominant of Welsh polities during this period. Contact with continental courts allowed for Gwynedd to transition from a petty kingdom into an increasingly sophisticated principality of seasoned courtiers capable of high-level diplomacy and representation, not only with the Angevin kings of England, but with the king of France and the Papacy. Distinctive achievements in Gwynedd include the further development of medieval Welsh literature, particularly the work of the princely court poets known as Beirdd y Tywysogion and the reformation of bardic schools; and the continued development of Cyfraith Hywel. All three of these further contributed to the development of a Welsh national identity in the face of Anglo-Norman encroachment on Wales.
The Glyndŵr rebellion was a Welsh rebellion led by Owain Glyndŵr against the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages. During the rebellion's height between 1403 and 1406, Owain exercised control over the majority of Wales after capturing several of the most powerful English castles in the country, and formed a parliament at Machynlleth. The revolt was the last major manifestation of Welsh independence before the annexation of Wales into England in 1543.
Ida de Grey or Edith de Grey, was a Cambro-Norman noblewoman, and the daughter of Reginald Grey, 2nd Baron Grey de Ruthyn, a powerful Welsh Marcher lord. The Greys of Ruthyn were the chief Marcher barons in the northern region of the Welsh Marches.
Dafydd ap Llywelyn was King of Gwynedd from 1240 to 1246.
Llannerch was a commote in the cantref of Dyffryn Clwyd which later became the Marcher Lordship of Ruthin. Situated in an area south of Ruthin the commote covered an area of 9,000 acres which included the parishes of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd and Llanelidan and 19 townships. Much of the land within the commote was owned by the Bishopric of Bangor.
Edward I's castles in Wales | ||
|---|---|---|
| Built or rebuilt by Edward I |  | |
| Welsh castles repaired by Edward I | ||
| Lordship castles built or rebuilt for Edward I | ||
| Other | ||
