Caergwrle Castle
Encyclopedia
Caergwrle
Caergwrle is a village in the county of Flintshire, in north east Wales. Approximately 5–6 miles from Wrexham and situated on the A541 road, it is contiguous with the village of Abermorddu and closely related to the village of Hope . The village lies on the River Alyn and sits at the base of Hope...
, in Flintshire
Flintshire
Flintshire is a county in north-east Wales. It borders Denbighshire, Wrexham and the English county of Cheshire. It is named after the historic county of Flintshire, which had notably different borders...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It was the final castle to be built by Welsh rulers before the loss of Welsh independence in 1283.
Construction of the castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
began in 1277, after King Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
gave the lordship of Hope
Hope, Flintshire
Hope is a small village in Flintshire, north-east Wales. The village is located approximately 3 miles / 4.5 km from the Wales-England border, on the course of the River Alyn....
to Dafydd ap Gruffudd as reward for his service in the Welsh war concluded earlier that year. Notable features included two D-shaped towers and a great circular keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
overlooking the approach to the south-east. It has been speculated that Dafydd employed English masons to work on the castle, which was apparently unfinished when Dafydd revolted in 1282. By the time Edward had gathered an army to invade Wales in June, Dafydd had already retreated from Caergwrle, and had slighted the castle, even blocking up its well to deny it to the English. Edward promptly began rebuilding the castle, and gave it to his wife, Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile was the first queen consort of Edward I of England. She was also Countess of Ponthieu in her own right from 1279 until her death in 1290, succeeding her mother and ruling together with her husband.-Birth:...
. However, a fire in 1283 gutted the castle, and it was never rebuilt.
Today, little remains of the fortifications, other than some earthworks and a smattering of recognisable masonry. The castle is located at the top of a steep hill that may or may not have been man-made.