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Castle Square Conwy Conwy_County Wales
Built for the English King Edward I between 1283-87, Master James
of St George's design at Conwy remains one of the most outstanding
achievements of medieval military architecture. The distinctive
elongated shape, with its two barbicans, eight massive towers and great
bow-shaped hall, was dictated by the narrow rocky outcrop on which the
castle stands. The story of the castle and walled town of Conwy begins
in the year 1283. King Edward 1 and his English army had completed the
conquest of Snowdonia and terminated the rule of the Welsh Princes. On 18 January 1283 the capture of Dolwyddelan Castle
gave Edward the control of the Conwy valley and he moved to Conwy in
March of 1283. Here the monastery of Aberconwy, the spiritual heart of
Gwynnedd and the burial place of Llewelyn the Great, was destroyed and a
new home for the monks was built at Maenan some 8 miles away. All that
remained was the unfinished abbey church which was to become the parish
church of the new town, which it still remains. Conwy castle
was to be built above the original tomb of Llewelyn the Great. Edward
immediately set about organising the building of the Castle. Under the
supervision of James of St George and his associate at Conwy James of
Chester. the Master carpenters Henry of Oxford and Laurence of
Canterbury and Mason John Francis had charge over a force of English
craftsmen and labourers that reached a peak of 1500 strong in the summer
of 1285, and within 4 short years this the most magnificent of Edward
1's Castles would be substantially complete.
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