Conwy Castle

CADW Guidebooks

by Jeremy Ashbee

Conwy was one of a series of castles established in north Wales by King Edward I to secure the newly won principality, following the death of the Welsh prince, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, in 1282. Begun in 1283, it was conceived and built as a single entity with the adjoining town walls in little more than four years. Together the castle and town walls form one of the best-preserved and most imposing medieval defensive systems in Europe. In 1986, Conwy — together with Beaumaris, Caernarfon and Harlech — was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a historic site of outstanding universal value. This handsome, 64-page guidebook surveys Conwy’s history then furnishes detailed tours of the castle and the town walls. Printed in full colour, it is illustrated with beautiful photographs, specially commissioned reconstruction drawings, historical documents and images, and helpful maps and plans.

Genres: Travel, History, Historical, Architecture, Nonfiction, Reference, Guidebook

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Purchased when we visited on August 3. We didn’t have much time to fully enjoy the site but the short time we had we were impressed with the scale and condition of the 700 year old castle. The book describes the history of King Edward I and the building of the castle and town walls and goes into a lot of detail about the rooms and uses of the space. A little dry history in the beginning but it gets better with the diagrams and cutaways of the castle.

[David Bisset · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good basic guide with excellent diagrams and photographs. The text is clearly written, and the historic background is adequate.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative guide to the history of Conwy Castle and its town walls including the who, how and why it was built and how it has been used since. The text is clear and concise and written with the general public in mind and is well supported by the diagrams and illustrations