In 1296, at the height of on-site activity at Beaumaris, Master James reported to the royal Exchequer that he had “one thousand carpenters, smiths, plasterers and navvies” at work, guarded by one hundred and thirty soldiers. They labored long and hard, in weather conditions that—as any visitor to the mountainous region of Snowdonia today will attest—could switch from beautiful to brutal on a dime. In total, nearly £15,000 was spent at Beaumaris,
