Harlech Castle

Built between 1283 and 1289 by Master James of St George for King Edward I, this World Heritage Site castle is designed on a concentric plan with a small but powerful inner ward dominated by an impressive twin-towered gatehouse and four round corner towers. As if its spectacular situation, foreboding might, and great power were not sufficient to ensure the fame of this magnificent castle, Harlech is also inseparably linked in Welsh myth with the tragic heroine of Branwen, the daughter of Llyr, of the Mabinogion.

Seen from the bluff of rock to the south of the town, the view of castle, sea and mountain panorama is truly breathtaking. But not only has it an unsurpassed natural setting, as a piece of castle-building Harlech is also unrivalled. Begun during Edward I's second campaign in north Wales, it was part of an "iron ring" of castles intended to prevent the region from ever again becoming a focal point of insurrection and a last bastion of resistance. In fact, Harlech Castle was much later to play a key role in the national uprising led by Owain Glyndwr to whose forces it fell after a long siege in 1404.

The castle became Glyndwr's residence and headquarters, and one of the two places to which he is believed to have summoned parliaments of his supporters. It was only after a further long siege in 1408 that Harlech was retaken by English forces under Harry of Monmouth, later Henry V.