Caerphilly Castle was built to stop Llywelyn's southward ambitions.
Construction
It is the largest castle in Wales and the second largest in Britain after Windsor Castle. Built mainly between 1268 and 1271, it is an early example of a concentric castle.
The west mound was extended south to create a dam across the Nant Gledwr, leading to the formation of a large defensive lake south of the main castle. The dam was fortified on both sides and had a gatehouse to the south which received the access road; this where the town of Caerphilly later grew up.
The central island was the site of the main structure of the castle, comprising a retaining wall (the middle ward with gatehouses east and west, and an inner ward with east and west gatehouses and circular corner towers.
To the west, a further ditch separated the spur forming a western island; this had a retaining wall, and was levelled, but no stone fortifications were built here.
To the north a ditch and bank formed a defensive moat.
In the final phase the dam was extended north to form another lake to the north of the moat and bank, and a further moat and bank to the west, while an outer gatehouse and outwork in the middle of the dam gave access to the west.
The whole was built over a four year period, and the layout was modified only slightly thereafter. the castle covered an area of 30 acres, making it one of the largest castles in Europe.
History
Unlike many other 13th-century Welsh castles, Caerphilly Castle was not built by Edward I in his crack-down on the Welsh lords, but by Gilbert 'the Red' de Clare, a powerful, red-headed nobleman of Norman descent, as a response to a dispute between him and the Prince of Gwynedd, Llywelyn the Last.
At first the dispute was mediated by Henry III (1216-1272), who sent a Bishop to take temporary control of the castle until matters were settled. However, de Clare soon regained control of the castle.
Thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
De Clare continued to retain control of the castle until the reign of Edward I (1272-1307). When Llywelyn failed on five occasions to provide services demanded of him by the King, he was stripped of his Lordship and his lands were invaded by King Edward. This removed much of the requirement for the castle, and from then on it was principally used as a base of operations for the de Clares and later the Despensers. Towards the end of the 14th century, the family moved to a more comfortable location and much of the castle was abandoned as a major fortress.
The castle enjoyed a relatively peaceful period in the century or so after its construction. It was apparently unsuccessfully assaulted during the revolt of Madog ap Llywelyn in 1294-5. A more serious attack occurred in 1316, when the Welsh nobleman Llywelyn Bren succeeded in penetrating the outer walls.
Owain Glyndwr
The forces of Owain Glyndwr captured Caerphilly Castle in 1403, but the occupation lasted only one hundred days. They returned two years later with additional French forces in 1405 at the height of the rebellion and retook the castle holding it for a year, the garrison only leaving after setbacks elsewhere changed the complexion of the revolt in South Wales.
Some maintenance was done by its subsequent owners, Richard Beauchamp (d. 1439), Richard Neville (d. 1471) and Jasper Tudor (d. 1495), probably because of its strategic usefulness, but this petered out at the end of the 15th century.
The English Civil War
The castle gradually fell into disrepair though some maintenance was done on parts of it, notably the Eastern gate house which was used as a prison. Despite being mostly untouched by the Civil War of 1642-1648, damage inflicted by the Parliamentary army in 1648 led to one of the most notable features of the castle, its leaning south-east tower. The tower stands 20 metres high and leans 3 metres out of the perpendicular. The castle's condition worsened until the later part of the 18th century when the first Marquess of Bute began preservation work. Three generations of Marquesses recorded the details of the castle, cleared structures built against its walls as leases ended and eventually undertook painstaking analysis and restoration of the fallen masonry.
Present day
In 1950, the 5th Marquess of Bute presented Caerphilly Castle to the British government; its restoration and preservation is continued today by Cadw. The castle is now mainly a tourist attraction and includes a small shop in between its two main bridges. It is also licensed to perform wedding ceremonies - the great hall being the venue as that is able to house in excess of 100 people together with the required furniture. Fishing can also be undertaken in the north and south lakes for carp and other coarse fish.
There is some debate over whether the damage to the famous leaning tower was actually inflicted by the Parliamentary Army, or caused by subsidence.
Four replica siege engines are on display in the castle.
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