Caerphilly Castle:
…and its origins.
Caerphilly Castle is situated in the centre of Caerphilly. It is surrounded by a large
lake (which is much smaller now than it would have been in The Middle Ages) and
borders onto the main town of Caerphilly itself. As one of the strongest castles in
Europe its fortifications rise above the surrounding buildings, although when
viewed from aerial photographs it seems to nestle in amongst the surrounding
hills. The castle itself lies in the Caerphilly basin and many of the stones used for
its construction come from the surrounding hills.
The castle construction began in 1268 and most of the castle had been completed
by 1271. There had been a lot of tension between the Welsh and Normans in the
area during the late 1260’s and The Lord of Senghenydd had been arrested by
Gilbert de Clare (Lord of Glamorgan) before Caerphilly was begun in an attempt to
crush potential rebellion on the Welsh-Norman border above Cardiff. Prince
Llewelyn was also threatening to unite Wales and had already taken lands in
Brecon and pushed down as far as the Usk valley in 1263. In 1267 The Treaty of
Montgomery had been signed by Llewelyn and Henry III. This treaty officially
recognised Llewelyn as the ‘Prince of Wales’ and confirmed the fealty of the
Welsh barons of Wales. The treaty did not however deal with the dispute between
Gilbert de Clare and Llewelyn over lands in Glamorgan. As Llewelyn believed that
the treaty gave him the right as Prince of Wales to govern all land in Wales,
Gilbert de Clare began the construction of Caerphilly to protect his ‘investments’ in
South Wales.
In the summer of 1268 Llewelyn invaded northern Senghenydd. Negotiations with
the Normans took place, but little was agreed to. In late 1270 Llewelyn attacked
and burnt what had been built of Caerphilly Castle. Gilbert de Clare got his
revenge by attacking Llewelyn’s supporters and taking more land. In mid 1271 he
began the construction of Caerphilly Castle once again.
Features of the Castle:
The Main Gatehouse
Main Gatehouse viewed from the
drawbridge
Close-up of the Main (East) Gatehouse.
The Main Gatehouse is found on the eastern side of the castle. Any visitor, or
attacker, approaching from this side would have to cross one drawbridge, which
would take them to a defensive tower that was placed on a six sided pier in the
lake. Once through the tower and its defences they would have to cross a second
drawbridge to reach the main gate. The gate towers that flank the main gatehouse
are quite impressive. They are square at the bottom, yet become half octagonal
as they rise. Down the length of each are arrow loop windows. The defences
added to the interior of the towers are also impressive. As you approach the gate
you have to pass down a defendant passageway. The roof of the passageway
contains six murder holes. To either side of the passageway are guard rooms with
arrow slits cut into the walls to allow the defenders to defend the entrance to the
gatehouse and the passageway itself.
The first floor of the gatehouse is reached by climbing a spiral staircase to the
right of the main gate. This is where the portcullis could be lowered to cover the
gate and where missiles could be dropped through the murder holes. The
defenders could also reach the eastern wall walkway by continuing up the spiral
staircase and crossing either a drawbridge or trap door (historians are not quite
sure which).
At the top of the main gatehouse you can view the inner moat and central-island
of the castle, as well as much of the castles surroundings. Deep crenellations
would have offered the defenders an opportunity to protect themselves from
enemy fire while firing missiles (arrows, rocks) themselves over the walls of the
gatehouse.
The West Gatehouses
Western Gatehouse as seen from the
Western Island
Outer Western Gatehouse as seen from the Inner
Western Gatehouse
These gatehouses are twin towered with one being directly behind the other. The
inner gatehouse stands taller than the outer, giving the defenders the advantage
of being able to defend the gateways on two levels. This is part of Caerphilly
Castle’s concentric form of defence. The inner gate is on a higher level than the
outer gate and a drawbridge pit has been added. Portcullis’ would have been set
into each doorway.
The Inner Gatehouse could be entered from the Inner Ward by means of a small
doorway. A spiral staircase winds from the lower level to the living area on the
upper level. The domestic room seems quite comfortable, with a large fireplace
and window seats. You could also gain access to the curtain wall walkway through
a small doorway leading off the spiral staircase. This doorway was protected with
a portcullis.
The Inner Ward
The Inner East Gatehouse viewed
from
The Inner Ward
Inner East Gatehouse as seen from
The Inner Ward
This is a large courtyard found in the middle of the castle with the Eastern
Gatehouse on one side and the two western gatehouses on the other. The Great
Hall was entered from the Inner Ward and you could gain access to the northwest
and northeast towers and the private apartments of the most important occupants
of the castle (at one time Gilbert de Clare). A well was also placed within this
ward.
The Great Hall
External views of the Great Hall
The Great Hall is entered from the Inner Ward. You would have entered a
passageway – leading into The Great Hall, or to the area where food and drink
would have been stored (The Pantry and The Buttery). There would also have
been a kitchen for preparing the food. It is also generally believed that another
doorway would have led to the Castle Chapel.
The Great Hall is very big (over 20 metres long and 10.6 metres wide) and would
have been extremely impressive in the thirteenth century, or later in the fourteenth
century when carved stone corbels (the heads of kings and important people)
were added to support the roof.
The Great Hall is where most of the castles main events would have taken place –
banquets and feasts. A huge fireplace was set into the western wall and in front of
this would have been a raised platform where Gilbert de Clare would have sat at
the high table with important guests. A doorway at the side of the platform would
have taken Gilbert de Clare into his private apartment.
The Chapel
The Chapel was entered probably through a door connecting it to the Great Hall,
although the building could be reached through a first floor doorway that opened
into the Inner Ward (Courtyard). The Chapel would have been well lit, with one
large window positioned between it and The Great Hall.
The Dam Wall
The South Dam Wall
The North Dam Platform
The walls of the dam were important features of the castle. The lakes could only
protect the castle as long as the water stayed in place. If the water was drained
away then the castle would have been much more vulnerable to attack.
The North Dam Wall is protected to the north by a small gatehouse (compared to
the Main Gatehouse). At the other end of the wall a spillway has been built to
allow floodwater from the lakes to drain away. The spillway is found at the base of
the dam wall, just before the Main Gatehouse. The spillway was guarded by a
portcullis that was pulled upwards to guard the entrance. It was lowered to open
the gateway.
The South Dam Wall has many more structures (buildings) built near it, or into it.
One of these is the Mill. The Watermill was used for grinding corn and the
waterwheel was powered using a channel of water redirected from the south lake.
Next to the mill and built into the wall is a guardroom. Within this structure there
are toilets (garderobes) whose contents would have drained into the moat. Further
along the wall is the water overflow channel. This would have been controlled by
sluicegates (gates that control the flow of water) that would have been huge,
anything up to 6.1 metres in height. The gates were protected by a tower that is
now known as Felton’s Tower. It has been named after the constable who
defended the castle for the King in 1327. The dam wall curves at its end to meet
the south gatehouse.