This unusual, yet magnificent building, located in the county town of Anglesey was the last Welsh castle of Edward I. In keeping with it’s ‘fairytale’ appearance, even the name ‘Beaumaris’ is derived from the French for beautiful marsh - ‘le beau marais’.

The castle owes its unique design to the King’s architect, Master James of St. George. Construction began in 1295, and spanned over approximately 35 years, yet despite the enormous amount of money and labour that went into the building of it, the castle was never completed. Most of the structural remains on this extensive site today have changed little since the 1330’s. Beaumaris was never subject to wilful destruction, and the deterioration to lead-work and timber is merely as a result of lack of restoration over the years. The uniform topography of the marshy land adjacent to the Menai Straight, allowed Master James to design the castle with perfect symmetry and, in keeping with that period, Beaumaris has no keep or central tower.

Although the defence strategies were never really called upon, the major consideration in the original construction of the castle was security. All residential accommodation was situated either within the Inner ward, or in adjacent towers. Encompassing the Inner Ward were four defence barriers - a curtain wall (up to sixteen feet thick), an Outer Ward with an area of open ground to its exterior, a lower octagonal-shaped outer curtain, and a surrounding moat, water for which was provided by tidal flow from the sea.

Beaumaris Castle - One of the round towers in the curtain wallEntrance to the Inner Ward resembles a well-thought out obstacle course, with fourteen defence barriers to overcome. There’s a drawbridge over the moat, murder slots, and a robust door located at the ‘Gate next the Sea’ on the outer curtain wall, followed by two further barriers: the door to the barbican, and the barbican itself. On reaching the main gatehouse, several more murder slots, portcullises, outward-opening doors and spy-holes are encountered.The curtain wall of the Inner Ward has a tower on each corner, plus a middle tower on the East and West walls, and a two-turreted North Gatehouse and South Gatehouse, neither of which were completed.

The design of the North Gatehouse was based on the gatehouse at Harlech, yet was intended to be much larger had it been finished. The construction of the Southern Gatehouse reached an even lower level of completion, with the turrets standing no higher than the curtain walls. The Chapel, displaying a fine, ribbed stone vaulted ceiling, is located on the first floor of the middle tower on the East curtain wall and can be reached by a modern timber staircase from the courtyard. From the wall walk, between the fragmented battlements, a wonderful ‘birds eye’ view is possible of this splendid residential fortress.

Our Random Articles

• Colchester Castle Park
• Clitheroe Castle, Lancashire
• York, Clifford's Tower
• Clandon Park House
• Chiswick Soho House, London

More Links