The Castles of Wales page 2

Carnarvon Castle rises from the low ground at the junction of the Seiont river and the Menai Straits, which protect two sides of the castle. In design it is imposing and massive, its gloomy polygonal towers and ornate ramparts giving a curiously oriental effect and betraying the origin of the Edwardian castle. In plan it is an irregular polygon, with towers at each angle. The main or king's gatehouse is on the side facing the town and is of immense strength. The curtain wall is of great thickness. The side facing the river is protected by a remarkable system of loops. Two galleries, one above the other. run through the whole length of this curtain from which the archers could fire through the loopholes. Thus an enemy approaching on this side would be met by a triple fire, from each of the galleries and from the battlements. The Great Hall was built along this southern curtain, measuring some one hundred feet by sixty feet, though no trace of it remains except a few of the foundations. At the east end is the Queen's Gate, a striking piece of military architecture. Facing the straits is the elegant and stately Eagle Tower, long the traditional birthplace of the first Prince of Wales-the ill-fated Edward of Carnarvon, afterwards Edward II.

A few castles of this period, owing to their irregularity of design, cannot be classified. The great castle of Denbigh was begun by the Earl of Lincoln in 1282, though abandoned by him in tragic circumstances, "Sum say that the Erie of Lincoln's sunne felle into the castelle welle, and ther dyed: whereupon he never passed to finisch the castelle." The castle was completed, however, by 1322. It stands high on a rock, commanding a great extent of the Vale of Clwyd. In plan it is a simple oval enclosure. The north-western and south-western curtain consists of plain mural towers connected by a comparatively thin curtain wall, at points strengthened by a mantlet. The north-eastern and south-eastern portion is much stronger: its curtain is thick and high, its mural towers angular and massive, and it contains the "princely and sumpteowse " gatehouse, a powerful and elaborate fortification.

Flint Castle, attributed also to Edward I, presents some curious features. It encloses a quadrangle by a strong curtain with the usual mural towers at three of its angles. But at the south-eastern angle, though separated from the curtain by a ditch and wholly outside the enceinte, is a large drum tower. This design is puzzling, for the capture of the isolated tower would certainly inconvenience the defenders. It may, as has been suggested, represent an experiment which was never repeated, or it may be the result of attempting to transform an earlier fortification into an Edwardian castle. Such a transformation was effected at the small castle of Criccieth.