Criccieth Castle

Criccieth Castle (Welsh: Castell Cricieth; Welsh pronunciation: [kastɛɬ ˈkrɪkjɛθ]) is a ruined thirteenth-century castle in Criccieth, Gwynedd, Wales. It is located on a rocky headland overlooking Tremadog Bay and consists of an inner ward almost surrounded by an outer ward. The twin-towered inner gatehouse is the most prominent remaining feature and survives to almost its full height, as does the inner curtain wall. The outer curtain wall, the inner ward buildings, and the castle's other three towers are significantly more ruinous, and in places survive only as foundations.

The castle was begun in the 1230s by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, the prince of Gwynedd, who probably built the inner ward and gatehouse. It was extended by his grandson, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, who probably constructed the outer ward. The castle was captured by Edward I of England in 1283 during his conquest of Wales and afterwards repaired and improved, work which included heightening the towers and inner gatehouse. The castle was besieged in 1294–1295 during an unsuccessful revolt against English rule by Madog ap Llywelyn, and further repairs took place under Edward II in the early fourteenth century. It was captured in 1404 during another unsuccessful revolt, led by Owain Glyndŵr.

It may have been burnt after the latter attack and was certainly ruinous by the 1450s. Until it was destroyed the castle was frequently used as a prison, housing high-status prisoners of the princes of Gwynedd and Scottish prisoners of Edward I.

The castle was subsequently left to decay, and was considered a romantic ruin by the time it was sketched by J. M. W. Turner in 1798. It was sold by the Crown in 1858 but returned to state care in 1933, after which extensive consolidation and archaeological excavations took place.

Text adapted from “Criccieth Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Criccieth Castle ranks #1,731 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #25 of the 100 mapped in Wales. Founded 1230, it is older than 74% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 825 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,997 times in the last 60 days, more than 66% of the atlas. 6 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Wrexham, 84 km away. It is one of the 27 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of North Wales. See how Wales compares in the castle statistics.

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