Criccieth castle is a Welsh castle modified by Edward I and great for a family visit as it is on a beach!
Visiting Criccieth Castle
There are a few facilities in the castle but the town is about a 30 second walk away. There is parking nearby too. The castle is managed by CADW.
My Experience
The first photos here are from an overnight stay where we had to leave before the castle actually opened but were able to watch sunrise which was quite spectacular!
The second batch are from a visit in distant 2009 with the kids where we toured a lot of the north Welsh castles, much to their delight! Full details are on my travel blog here.
Criccieth Castle Photo Gallery
As these photos were taken in the dim and distant past of 2009 they were not taken in RAW so these are pretty much unedited jpgs. I’d like to think my own skill in photography has moved on since then too so these may not be ideal pictures. Sorry!
History
Criccieth is truly a castle to capture the imagination. Crowning its own rocky headland between two beaches it commands astonishing views over the town and across the wide sweep of Cardigan Bay.
No wonder Turner felt moved to paint it. By then it was a picturesque ruin – destroyed by one of Wales’s most powerful medieval princes, Owain Glyndŵr.
But it was built by two of his illustrious predecessors. First Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) created the immense gatehouse flanked by D-shaped stone towers. Then his grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffudd – or Llywelyn the Last – added the outer ward, curtain walls and two new towers.
Still this craggy fortress wasn’t enough to withstand the invasion of Edward I. The English king made a few improvements of his own, equipping the north tower with a stone-throwing machine to deter Welsh attacks.
It was still in English hands in 1404 when the towers were burnt red by Owain Glyndŵr. Without a garrison to protect it, the town became entirely Welsh once more.
References
The CADW site for the castle is here and the history above is copied from there.
Castles of Wales has a great site with loads of detail here.
Castles forts battles has their usual excellent history and detail of the castle here.