Dolbadarn Castle
| Dolbadarn Castle | ||
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 The ruins of Dolbadarn Castle |
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| Creation time : | 13th Century | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Geographical location | 53 ° 6 '58.3 " N , 4 ° 6' 46.4" W | |
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Dolbadarn Castle is a ruined castle in Gwynedd in Wales . The ruin, classified as a Grade I cultural monument and protected as a Scheduled Monument , is one of the few castles built as stone fortifications by the Welsh princes.
location
The ruin is located in the Gwynedd mountains about 800 m southeast of Llanberis . It is located on a dominant rock almost 25 m high on the Llanberis Pass between the two lakes Llyn Peris and Llyn Padarn .
history
Presumably, the castle was built by the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth around 1230. The castle controlled an important link into the heart of Gwynedd . Between 1255 and 1277 the Welsh Prince Owain Goch was imprisoned in the castle by his brother Llywelyn ap Gruffydd . During the conquest of Gwynedd by the English King Edward I , after the conquest of Castell y Bere in 1283, the castle was the last remaining in the possession of Dafydd ap Gruffydd , brother and successor of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd. From here he fled from the English troops to the Snowdonia massif in May 1283 , where he was finally taken prisoner in June. Dolbadarn Castle was captured by the English troops under William de Valence . After the English conquest, the castle was razed and wood from the castle is said to have been used for the construction of the new Caernarfon Castle .
During the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr , the tower is said to have been used as a prison for prisoners of the rebels around 1400.
The ruin is now managed by Cadw and is freely accessible.
investment
The dominant structure of the castle is the mighty round keep . The tower, made of slate, has a diameter of 14 m and walls up to 2.5 m thick. The tower is over 14 m high and has a rectangular latrine extension . The entrance is on the first floor, the three floors were connected by a stone spiral staircase and divided into numerous rooms. The tower was surrounded by an irregular, younger circular wall made of dry stone with two towers, and there were other buildings in the courtyard. The main residential building was at the northern end of the castle.
Others
The ruin has served as a motif for numerous painters, including William Turner who visited the ruin in 1798 , which he recorded in several sketches and in a painting from 1799/1800.
literature
- Adrian Pettifer: Welsh Castles: A Guide by Counties . Boydell & Brewer, Woodbridge 2000. ISBN 978-0-85115-778-8 , pp. 33-34
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ British listed Buildings: Dolbadarn Castle, Llanberis. Retrieved October 13, 2014 .
- ↑ Snowdonia National Park: Dolbadarn Castle. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on September 24, 2015 ; accessed on October 13, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ National Library of Wales: JMW Turner, Dolbadarn Castle. Retrieved October 13, 2014 .
