Beaumaris Castle

Begun in 1295, this unfinished castle is the last and largest of King Edward I's Welsh fortifications. Designed by the king's mason-architect, Master James of St George, it is a perfect example of a concentrically planned castle, built with an almost geometric symmetry.

Formidable defences survive, surrounded by a partly restored moat, which offer the modern-day visitor a glimpse of the almost unprecedented level of strength and firepower that this castle would have offered in its day. Before the age of cannon, the attacker would surely have been faced with an impregnable fortress. Yet, ironically, the work of construction was never fully completed, and the castle saw little action apart from the Civil War in the 17th Century.

Possibly the most sophisticated example of medieval military architecture in Britain, Beaumaris has been designated a World Heritage Site.