Caerphilly Castle - The Largest Castle In Wales

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Standing proud as the largest castle in Wales and the second largest in the UK, Caerphilly Castle will leave visitors in awe of its size, preservation and beautiful setting. Its many rooms, corridors and staircases will have you spending the best part of a day exploring and wondering the grounds.
Filmed: Summer 2021
Music: Vindsvept, fantasy music - • Deep Sleep of the Elve...
Entry: Paid
---- Short History ----
- The Normans began pushing into Wales in the late 1060s and built castles along the way.
- The earls of Gloucester were empowered to subdue the region of Glamorgan in South Wales.
- In 1217, the de Clare family acquired the earldom and tried conquering the whole of the Glamorgan region.
- In 1263, Gilbert de Clare inherited the family lands.
- Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, a Welsh prince who controlled most of mid and north wales, was his main adversary. He had allied with the rebel barons in the civil war in England in exchange for authority over all the local magnates.
- But Gilbert allied himself with King Henry III and believed his lands in Glamorgan to be under threat.
- But the baronial revolt was crushed by 1267 and Gilbert de Clare could finally advance north into Glamorgan from his base in Cardiff.
- Caerphilly Castle began construction in 1268. It lay in a basin of the Rhymney Valley, alongside the Rhymney River and adjacent to a Roman fort.
- It is estimated to have cost £19,000 to build.
- Work began at a rapid pace, with water defences and wooden palisades to protect it and the large walls and internal buildings being built at speed.
- Llywelyn ap Gruffudd brought his forces but Henry III calmed things down through diplomatic efforts.
- But Gilbert didn’t stop building and Llywelyn eventually attacked the site and burnt it, probably destroying the temporary defences.
- Gilbert continued construction a year later which raised tensions, prompting Henry III to send two bishops to find a resolution. They took possession of the castle in 1271 and promised work would stop and negotiations would begin.
- But de Clare seized back the castle, kicked out the bishops and their soldiers and began construction again.
- Neither Llywelyn nor Henry III could intervene and Gilbert de Clare lay claim to the whole of Glamorgan.
- Additional water defences, towers and gatehouses were soon added.
- Llywelyn’s power began to fade and in 1282, Henry’s son, Edward I invaded Wales for a second time, killing Llywelyn and ending independent Welsh rule.
- But local tensions remained. Gilbert and his neighbour, the earl of Hereford argued and in 1291 the case was brought before the king, resulting in the temporary royal seizure of Caerphilly.
- And in 1294 another Welsh uprising, led by Madog ap Llywelyn began. In Glamorgan, Morgan ap Maredudd led the local uprising, having been dispossessed by de Clare in 1270, seeing his chance to regain his lands.
- He burned half the town but failed to capture the castle.
- Madog was captured in 1295 by Edward in North Wales and Gilbert managed to force Morgan to surrender.
- But by the end of 1295 Gilbert de Clare died.
- The castle passed to his son who died in 1314 which resulted in the family lands being left in the control of the Crown.
- Eventually they were defeated and King Edward II settled the inheritance of Glamorgan and Caerphilly castle on Eleanor de Clare who married Hugh le Despenser, the royal favourite.
- Hugh expanded the Great Hall and took over lands across South Wales.
- But Edward II’s wife, Isabella of France, overthrew his government in 1326. The king and Hugh had to flee west, staying at the Caerphilly Castle. But had to abandon it and £14,000 as Isabella’s forces approached.
- Eventually, Hugh would be executed, but his son would be pardoned.
- Over the years it passed through many owners until 1486, when the earl of Pembroke moved to Cardiff Castle, leaving Caerphilly to decline.
- In the 18th century, the very wealthy John Crichton-Stuart owned the castle and began repairs; buying surrounding lands and re-roofing the Great Hall in the 1870s.
- In the early 20th century more major restoration was undertook. The stonework was repaired with moulds, the Inner East gatehouse was rebuilt and several towers.
- Several decades of purchases allowed for the demolishing of local houses encroaching on the view of the castle.
- By 1950, the family sold most of its lands and gave the castle to the state.
- The lakes were re-flooded and the final restoration work was completed in the 1960s.
#Caerphilly #Castle #Wales #Cardiff
---- Further Reading ----
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caerphi...
- www.castlewales.com/caerphil.html
---- Follow Us On Social Media ----
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- Instagram: / theyhadaday - @Theyhadaday

[@geraldhartley]

Just visited today. Such a marvel of engineering. 💪

[@TheyHadADay]

It certainly is

[@Achilles22]

Brilliant pancakes at the end of the entrance in cafe!

[@ruthiebabe3638]

I have never been to Caerphilly, but the castle looks lovely. Thanks for the video.😁

[@TheyHadADay]

Thank you for watching

[@grego8700]

Wow the moat is so big. It looks very peaceful there 👍🏻

[@TheyHadADay]

👍🏻

[@UrbanParanormalXplores]

Beautiful place

[@TheyHadADay]

Thank you

[@2fat2furious1]

This is beautiful. Amazing drone footage👌. Very Cinematic. Now that's a castle

[@TheyHadADay]

Thank you

[@adriennewood2836]

What the castle was built, back in the 1260s/70s and for hundreds of years afterwards, it was known as “The Blue Castle” because it was built from blue pennant stone, and looked blue (pollution stops us seeing that). Eventually the town grew up around the castle, and people began to call the castle after the town… which had been named after the castle..

[@TheyHadADay]

Very interesting 🧐

[@mehmetaygun.official]

nice sharing thank you

[@TheyHadADay]

Thank you for watching and your support

[@RODPIKERDRONESUK]

Very nice indeed looking lovely thanks for sharing cheers

[@TheyHadADay]

Thank you for your support 👍🏻

[@c-historia]

wonderful!

[@TheyHadADay]

Thanks

[@c-historia]

@@TheyHadADay buona giornata 🙏

[@LaureninGermany]

I love Caerphilly castle. It’s one of my favourites. Beautiful beautiful shots.

[@TheyHadADay]

Thank you Lauren. Keep safe. 👍🏻🏰🏰

[@PinnedonPlaces]

Such a spectacular castle. Could easily spend hours exploring this one. Your drone footage is really beautiful and works so well with the edits and music. Really did enjoy re visiting here with you! 💕💫 fantastic work 👏

[@TheyHadADay]

Thank you so much for your lovely comment 😀.

[@gaynorkelleher9233]

Lovely aerial photography, really shows the immense size of the castle and moat, and the added timeline and information was brillilant. It's a beautiful walk around the grounds at any time of year. You should revisit and film it in the snow too.

[@TheyHadADay]

Thank you

[@HauntedandAbandonedNorfolk]

Superb work 👌🏻

[@TheyHadADay]

Thank you for your comment and support

[@tanurajput]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 very nice

[@TheyHadADay]

Thank you 🙏

[@GermanyWithHiba]

Wow such a beautiful place it is ❤ Your shots from abive are amazing 👏

[@TheyHadADay]

Thank you

[@JamieHowells]

Great work guys. 👏

[@TheyHadADay]

Thank you buddy. Hope your well and safe 👍🏻

[@geoffharris7297]

no mention of the green lady- the ghost of a lady said to have fallen in love with a monk and imprisoned said to look out for her love

[@tahsinkara4600]

Nice video peatofukul

[@TheyHadADay]

Thank you 🙏

[@dafydd56]

Largest uninhabited castle in Uk.

[@TheyHadADay]

I’m sure it is. 👍🏻

[@adriennewood2836]

Largest uninhabited castle in Europe, and possibly the world.

[@jparker5050]

On it's own, it's a marvelous castle. For the Welsh, I can only imagine, that like other English castles, it serves as a sad reminder of their loss of Independence to the English. To this day, many Welsh hold a deep hatred of King Edward.