Land of Castles
the Country
of Wales
Harlech Castle is located in Gwyneed, which is the northwest province of Wales and constructed on a cliff as part of Edward I's second Welsh campaign. |
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Land of Castles
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Edward I, the Plantagenet King of England, built a series of castles on the northern and western coast of Wales to enclose the Welsh Prince of Wales and subjugate the Welsh people and these castles, as was Harlech, was close to the sea to for supply by ships in time of siege. The sea, at the time Harlech Castle was constructed, came right to the cliffs that Harlech Castle was built upon. |
Harlech Castle was built as a concentric castle with an outer curtain or castle wall enclosing an outer bailey and a taller inner curtain wall enclosing an inner bailey. Attackers seeking to breech the outer walls or even entering the outer bailey would be subject to archers firing from arrow loops (vertical slits cut in the wall) or the wall walk of the taller inner wall. |
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The narrow outer ward is elevated from the ground below at the location of this photograph and an arrow loop can be observed in the southeast tower and in the distance across Cardigan Bay is the Llŷn Penisula. |
The views from the wall walk in all directions were spectacular, I enjoyed climbing about Harlech Castle and from this position along the south wall walk, the remains of kitchen and pantry walls can be observed. |