Beaumaris Castle The Castle Of Castles Anglesey

If you’re looking for the best things to do in Angelsey then you need to check out the Famous Anglesey Castle – Beaumaris Castle. Gaze over the beautiful, rugged landscape of Beaumaris Castle at the centre of Anglesey. This is an original watercolour created by a professional artist, capturing historic Beaumaris after its transformation by creator Edward I in the 1290s into the greatest castle he ever built. Made from hand-drawn images and printed onto premium paper to create stunning images that will last a lifetime.

Beaumaris Castle, open to visitors for the first time since 1846 is located on the beautiful and historic island of Anglesey in North Wales. Beaumaris was built as a royal castle between 1295 and 1330 by Edward I as a show of strength, and as a base from which to pacify his new Welsh territories. Designed to be the final word in military architecture, it features massive stone walls, towers, gatehouses and entrance passages.

Beaumaris Castle is a spectacular palace that rises from the sea. Built in the 13th century by Edward I, King of England and Wales, it was the last of his great British castles. Although never completed, it is a masterpiece of military design where architecture and fortification are combined in a stunning display of medieval power. Open daily throughout the year except 25 December.

The Architecture

The Beaumaris Castle building is designed to give you the feeling of being a medieval castle lord. It has many features of a real castle and is ideal for fantasy role play or re-enactments, whether that be in your house, garden or office. It features 2 tower platforms with magazines for storing weapons, a main gatehouse with drawbridge and portcullis, main keep with internal spiral staircase, large open ground floor room inside the outer curtain walls, battlements with arrow slits (for use with the deadbolts), plus many more features!

Interesting Facts About Beaumaris Castle

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1. Remarkable Architecture

Beaumaris Castle is a UNESCO Globe Heritage Site, as it among the most effective examples of late 13th and also very early 14th-century armed forces design located in Europe. However, the castle was never finished! It has a concentric balanced design “castle within a castle,” as well as was considered being the highpoint of military engineering for the time.

2. Maximum Defences To Stop Any Army Attacking

The concentric design of the castle was done to increase the protection of the castle, making it bulletproof. If opponents might breach the external wall of the castle, the area between that and the inner wall surface was a harmful location to be, as a result of 164 arrow-slits on the inner wall surface. The only path of access to the castle was at the south lodge, which had 15 lines of support, such as a drawbridge as well as several portcullises.

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3. Crazy High Budget

The building of Beaumaris Castle started in 1295 as well as had a workforce of 2,000 men. By the time work quit on the castle around the year 1330, the total budget spent on building was ₤ 15,000, a considerable amount for the time, as the revenue for the English treasury was less than ₤ 20,000. Several chroniclers have described Beaumaris as a vanity job for Edward I.

4. Always Unfinished

As a vanity task and overly enthusiastic, it seems that Beaumaris Castle was constantly likely to be unfinished. The main parts of the castle were developed promptly, yet the towers, gatehouses and outer supports were never finished. Today, you can see exactly how it is incomplete, rather than spoiled, as the towers are short. Also the round towers at the north lodge are 10m much shorter than they were meant to be. There are a couple of reasons for Beaumaris Castle being unfinished; Edward I passed away in 1307 as well as the engineer James of St George in 1309, as well as the king began to concentrate on dominating the Scots rather than having control in Wales.

5. Never Assaulted By Invaders

Despite its incomplete standing, Beaumaris was never ever a huge target for strikes. There was no siege on the castle up until 1403 when Owain Glyndŵr revolted, as well as rebels recorded the castle, yet the English retook it in 1405. The castle soon fell into disrepair, as well as by 1539 was only secured by ten weapons and also forty bows, and most of the areas had leaks.

6. An Inspiration To The People Of Wales

for Art as well as Poetry After years of desertion as well as plants taking control of, interest expanded in Beaumaris and various other North Wales castles constructed by Edward I from painters and also visitors. The Enchanting movement of the 1800s drew people to North Wales to draw and cover the ruins of the castles as well as structure. Beaumaris was not as prominent as Conwy or Caernarfon however was gone to by Queen Victoria and also painted by J.M.W. Turner in 1835.

7. Restoration

as well as Fixing In the 20th century, the castle saw the starts of its improvement. In 1925, a large reconstruction began, stripping out the vegetation that had actually overgrown, digging out the moat and also repairing stonework on the walls. In 1950, Beaumaris Castle was designated as a Grade I noted structure due to its “remarkable, typically nationwide, interest.” 1986 saw Beaumaris, together with Conwy and also various other castles called as part of the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd World Heritage Site. Today, the castle is handled by Cadw and is a substantial visitor destination for Anglesey and North Wales, seeing thousands go to every year!

Make sure to check out the Anglesey Itinerary and the list of Anglesey beaches for your trip!