Ruthin Castle

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Ruthin Castle
Old part of Ruthin Castle

Old part of Ruthin Castle

Creation time : after 1277
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Welsh nobility
Construction: Quarry stone
Place: Ruthin
Geographical location 53 ° 6 '40.8 "  N , 3 ° 18' 42.3"  W Coordinates: 53 ° 6 '40.8 "  N , 3 ° 18' 42.3"  W.
Height: 80  m ASLTemplate: height / unknown reference
Ruthin Castle (Wales)
Ruthin Castle
The new Castel Ruthin Hotel adjoins the old castle

Ruthin Castle ( Welsh : Castell Rhuthun ) is a medieval fortification near the town of Ruthin in the Vale of Clwyd in the Welsh county of Denbighshire . It was built at the end of the 13th century by Dafydd ap Gruffydd , brother of Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd , on a ridge of red sandstone above the valley. Part of the old walls is still preserved today and forms part of the modern Ruthin Castle Hotel .

history

Ruthin Castle is located on a site that first supported a fort in the Iron Age . In 1277 King Edward I of England lent the land to Dafydd ap Gruffydd as a reward for his assistance in the English invasion of North Wales . It is not clear whether there was a fort at this point at the time or whether Dafydd re-established the castle. The castle was originally given the Gaelic name Castell Coch yn yr Gwernfor (German: Red castle in the great marshland).

The castle was the base of operations of this branch of the noble De Gray family and received the title of Barone Gray de Ruthyn and its head of the family was the Marcher Lord of Dyffryn Clwyd . It was also the basis for Reginald Gray, 3rd Baron Gray de Ruthin , who is said to have sparked the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr .

At the beginning of the English Civil War , the castle was in a state of disrepair and the work necessary to re-fortify it was hastily carried out. Ruthin Castle withstood an eleven week siege by parliamentary troops in 1646 before being abandoned when the attackers announced their intention to undermine the walls. Oliver Cromwell's troops later destroyed the castle as part of a razing so that the castles could no longer be used for military purposes in the future.

20th century

In 1923 the first British private hospital for the examination and treatment of hidden internal diseases opened in the castle, but closed again around 1950. The remains of the castle have been incorporated into a hotel since the 1960s. A well-known guest of this hotel was Prince Charles , who stayed there in 1969 the night before his investiture as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle .

Ruthin Castle is a Grade I Historic Building and Scheduled Monument.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c John Northall: Ruthin Castle timeline . In: Castles of Wales . 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  2. ^ A b Ruthin Castle: A short history . Ruthin Castle Hotel. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  3. ↑ Ruthin Castle . In: British Listed Buildings . Retrieved March 16, 2018.

Web links

Commons : Ruthin Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files