Cardigan Castle
| Cardigan Castle | ||
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 The southern curtain wall, which was in danger of collapsing in 2006 |
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| Alternative name (s): | Castell Caerfyrddin | |
| Creation time : | 11th century | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Geographical location | 52 ° 4 '52 " N , 4 ° 39' 33.8" W | |
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Cardigan Castle ( Welsh Castell Aberteifi ) is a ruined castle in Wales in Great Britain . The ruin, classified as a Grade I cultural monument and protected as a Scheduled Monument , is located in the center of the city of Cardigan in Ceredigion . As the first stone castle to be built by a Welsh prince and as the site of the first Eisteddfod , the ruins are of great historical and cultural importance.
history
From the foundation of the castle to the middle of the 12th century
In Cardigan, a first castle was built by Arnulf de Montgomery as earth and wood fortifications as early as 1093 during the Norman conquest of Wales . The complex was probably 1 km downstream from today's castle. Already in 1094 it was attacked by the Welsh, in 1096 another attack followed and the castle was destroyed by Cadwgan ap Bleddyn von Powys .
In 1110 Gilbert de Clare built a second Anglo-Norman fortress at the mouth of the Teifi , around which the later city of Cardigan arose. Not far from the castle, the Battle of Crug Mawr took place in 1136 , in which the Welsh defeated the Anglo-Normans under the leadership of Stephen, the constable of the castle and other leaders. Then the Welsh besieged Cardigan Castle, which, however, received supplies from the sea and therefore could not be conquered. Another attack in the following year under the leadership of Owain Gwynedd , Prince of Gwynedd and Anarawd and Cadell ap Gruffydd , Prince of Deheubarth , failed. Nevertheless, as a result of the victory of Crug Mawr, the Welsh were able to recapture large parts of Ceredigion in the next few years. Another attack on the castle took place in 1145 under Hywel and Cynan from Owain , which also failed.
It flourished as the residence of Lord Rhys
At the beginning of November 1165 the ruler of Deheubarth finally succeeded in conquering the castle by the betrayal of a servant named Rigewarc, Rhys ap Gruffydd, and capturing the constable of the castle, Robert FitzStephen , the son and successor of the constable Stephen. The wooden castle was destroyed and rebuilt as a stone castle by Rhys ap Gruffydd, later called Lord Rhys. After the completion of the castle, Lord Rhys celebrated Christmas 1176 in the castle, to which he invited the Welsh bards and poets as well as Welsh musicians to a competition. This festival is considered to be the first Welsh iceddfod.
Contested fortress in the 13th century
After Lord Rhys death in 1197, his son Maelgwn conquered Ceredigion and his cardigan from his brother Gruffydd ap Rhys . After Gruffydd had recaptured Ceredigion in addition to Cardigan Castle in 1199, Maelgwn sold the castle in July 1200 at a low price to the English King John Ohneland to prevent the castle from falling to his brother. In the wars following the signing of the Magna Carta , the castle was conquered by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth in 1215 . In the 1216 agreement of Aberdyfi , with which Llywelyn ended the Deheubarth fratricidal wars, Cardigan finally fell to the sons of Gruffydd ap Rhys, Rhys Ieuanc and Owain ap Gruffydd . In 1223 William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , was able to recapture the castle for England, but only a few years later Maelgwn Fychan , the son of Maelgwn, recaptured the castle with the support of his uncle Rhys Gryg . In 1240 Walter Marshal finally conquered the castle for the English. In 1241 the castle fell to the crown. The castle, which was only poorly restored after the numerous sieges, was enlarged and rebuilt from 1244 to 1254. In 1284 and 1295 King Edward I visited the castle.
From the late Middle Ages to the English Civil War
After 1376, the castle served as the seat of Joan of Kent , the Black Prince's widow , who was Princess of Wales and Lady of Cardiganshire until her death in 1385 . During the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr in 1405 the castle was besieged to no avail. Since the castle could be supplied again by ships across the sea, the Welsh did not succeed in conquering the castle. Between 1428 and 1432 major renovations took place in the castle.
In 1501 it was given to his bride Catherine of Aragon on the occasion of the wedding of Prince of Wales Arthur Tudors . The militarily outdated castle slowly fell into disrepair until it was occupied by royalist troops in June 1644 during the English Civil War . In December 1644, after three weeks of siege, the castle was captured by parliamentary troops with the help of ship guns brought ashore. After a failed attempt at reconquest by the royalists in 1645, the castle was burned down by the parliamentary troops and the walls razed so that it could no longer serve as a base.
Use of the castle from the 18th century until today
After the end of the civil war, the ruins went into private ownership. In 1713 the owner at that time, Thomas Brock, had parts of the castle leveled in 1713 and laid out a bowling green on the site . From 1805 to 1808 John Bowen had the Castle Green House built within the castle walls by the architect David Evans. The family had made wealth through the harbor, which flourished in the 19th century, and had David Evans son Daniel expand it in 1827 and create a magnificent garden on the site of the former outer bailey. During the Second World War, a pillbox , a small observation bunker , was built on the curtain wall . After the Second World War, the owners no longer had the means to maintain the extensive property. The site overran and the Castle Green House fell into disrepair. Part of the curtain wall collapsed in 1984 and the medieval ruin threatened to fall into complete ruin. In 2003 the Ceredigion County Council finally bought the 8000 m² site. The ruins are currently being restored and expanded by the Cadwgan Building Preservation Trust with the help of Friends of Cardigan Castle and with financial support from lottery proceeds for £ 11 million. A cultural and educational center for the Welsh language , culture and handicrafts is due to open in 2014 on the site of the former castle . The facilities of the center will include exhibition rooms, training and conference rooms, a restaurant, an open-air stage and a concert pavilion.
investment
The castle was strategically located on the north bank of the Teifi, which was navigable to Cardigan. Today it is right on the bridge over the river, built in 1728. There are no remains of the wooden Anglo-Norman fortress from the 12th century or the stone castle of Lord Rhys, the sparse remains probably from the time of the expansion by the English after 1244. Parts of the southern curtain wall are still directly facing the river as well as the ruins of two medieval round towers on the east side. Inside the castle walls is the Castle Green House, a representative two-storey country house in the Georgian style . The ruins of the north tower, a medieval round tower, were integrated into the rear of the house. From the medieval buildings of the inner castle and the keep mentioned in 1244 no visible remains have survived. The grounds of the outer bailey were designed as a garden in the 18th and 19th centuries, but became completely overgrown after the Second World War.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ British Listed Buildings: Cardigan Castle, Cardigan. Retrieved September 18, 2013 .
- ↑ Ancient Monuments: Cardigan Castle. Retrieved September 18, 2013 .
- ^ Paul Latimer: Henry II's Campaign Against the Welsh in 1165 . In: Welsh History Review, 14 (1989), p. 40
- ↑ Thomas Lloyd u. a .: Buildings of Wales - Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion. Yale University Press, New Haven 2006. ISBN 978-0-300-10179-9 , p. 450
- ^ Friends of Cardigan Castle. Retrieved September 20, 2013 .
- ↑ BBC News: Cardigan Castle: Steel supports removal in £ 11m work. Retrieved September 20, 2013 .