Castell Coch
| Castell Coch | ||
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_(8100712084).jpg) Main gate of Castell Coch |
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| Alternative name (s): | Red Castle | |
| Creation time : | 13th Century | |
| Conservation status: | Restored | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 32 '7.4 " N , 3 ° 15' 13" W | |
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Castell Coch is a castle in Wales . The facility, classified as a Grade I cultural monument and protected as a Scheduled Monument , is located on a wooded mountainside in the River Taff valley north of Tongwynlais , about 9 km northwest of Cardiff . The Welsh name translated means Red Castle .
history
It is believed that the Norman conquerors erected a moth on the site of the castle as early as the end of the 11th century during the conquest of Gwent , but this was abandoned a little later when the area came under Welsh rule again as Senghenydd . According to legend, the Welsh prince Ifor Bach is said to have built a first castle, but this thesis is just like the assumption that Ifor's descendant Gruffudd ap Rhys began building the castle around 1250. It is believed that the castle was built by Gilbert de Clare , Lord of Glamorgan , after he occupied Senghenydd in 1267 and ousted Gruffudd ap Rhys. The castle was probably built in two building phases in quick succession. First the curtain wall was built, which was reinforced by two round towers. In the second construction phase, the curtain wall was raised and strengthened, and the castle was strengthened by building the southeast tower and the gatehouse. After de Clare's death in 1295, the castle fell to his widow and finally to his son Gilbert when he came of age . The castle was probably conquered and destroyed by Welsh rebels by undermining the walls shortly after his death in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 , because unlike the other castles in the region, Castell Coch was neither during the rebellion of Llywelyn Bren in 1316 nor during the revolt of the barons mentioned against Hugh le Despenser in 1321. The castle was not rebuilt and fell into complete disrepair, so that in the 19th century only the southwest tower and the curtain wall were noteworthy preserved.
After archaeological investigations of the ruins had taken place in 1850 and from 1870 to 1871, the 3rd Marquess of Bute had the castle rebuilt on the old foundation walls in the historicizing style from 1875 . The castle, however, was never intended as a residence, but was instead intended to serve as a summer home and private retreat alongside the main residence, Cardiff Castle . The architect William Burges built the castle externally in the style of a 13th century castle, even if the conical roofs and the towers of different heights are more reminiscent of a Rhenish castle or a castle in the Loire Valley than a Welsh castle. The external reconstruction was completed in 1879, but when Burges died in 1881, he had first drawn up drafts for the interior. The further expansion in a sometimes extremely magnificent neo-Gothic style continued under the direction of William Frame and J. S. Chapple until 1891. After its completion, however, the builder is said to never have visited his castle again, and even after his death in 1900, the castle was only used rarely and irregularly by his family. In 1950 the 5th Marquess of Bute handed the castle over to the state; today it is managed by Cadw and can be visited.
investment
The castle lies on the steep eastern slope of the River Taff valley and controlled an important road from Cardiff to the mountainous country to the north. No remains of a possibly existing outer bailey have been preserved, the core bailey has an almost round floor plan and is separated from the rising terrain by a deep, dry ditch. Despite its small size, the castle with its three round towers and the strong curtain wall was very defensive. The medieval castle was built of red sandstone , from which it owes its name. During the reconstruction in the 19th century, however, lighter limestone was used, so that a clear distinction can be made between the remains of the medieval walls and the reconstruction of the 19th century. In 1972 the roofs covered with red tiles were replaced by gray-green slate.
The castle is accessed from the east via a bridge through the small gatehouse, which was heavily fortified with a drawbridge and portcullis and lies between the southeastern and northeastern tower. The small castle courtyard is enclosed in the north and west by the circular wall, which has two rows of archery slits and a covered wooden battlement . The three towers were rebuilt at different heights in the 19th century and serve different purposes. The northeastern tower, called Welltower , has a dungeon on the ground floor. The southeast tower is the highest of the three towers and contains the lord's private rooms as a keep . The south-western tower contains the functional kitchen from the 19th century, and the two-storey hall is located between the two southern towers. All towers and the hall have wooden galleries facing the courtyard, which also serve as access to the upper floors.
Since the castle should only serve as a summer house according to the plans of Burges, it contains only four living rooms. The hall on the ground floor of the Palas now houses an exhibition on the history of the castle, while the dining room with a magnificent wooden vault is on the upper floor. The adjoining living room in the Keep and Lady Bute's bedroom above are furnished with magnificent ornate vaulted ceilings, wall paintings, precious furniture and exaggerated fittings. Lord Bute's bedroom above the gatehouse, on the other hand, is deliberately simply decorated.
Surroundings of the castle
In the immediate vicinity of the castle is a 17 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest with dense beech forest, red sandstone cliffs from the Devonian and lighter limestone cliffs from the Carboniferous . In the 19th century, the Marquess of Bute had a vineyard laid out below the castle.
literature
- Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales: An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan : III - Part Ib: Medieval Secular Monuments - The Later Castles from 1217 to the present, HMSO, London 2000, ISBN 978-1-871184- 22-8 , pp. 105-124
- John Newman: Glamorgan (Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan and West Glamorgan) (The Buildings of Wales; 3). Penguin, Harmondsworth 1995. ISBN 978-0-14-071056-4 , p. 314
- Elisabeth Whittle: Glamorgan and Gwent . HMSO, London 1992. ISBN 0-11-701221-1 , pp. 138-140
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ British listed buildings: Castell Coch, Tongwynlais. Retrieved January 13, 2014 .
- ↑ Ancient Monuments: Castell Coch. Retrieved December 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales: An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan: III - Part 1b: Medieval Secular Monuments the Later Castles from 1217 to the present , HMSO, London 2000, ISBN 978-1-871184- 22-8 , p. 106
- ^ Adrian Pettifer: Welsh Castles. A Guide by Counties . Boydell, Woodbridge 2000, ISBN 978-0-85115-778-8 , p. 91
- ^ Natural Resources Wales: Castell Coch Woodlands and Road Section. (PDF) Retrieved December 2, 2017 .