How to tell who built a Welsh castle
A few clues help you tell a prince’s castle from a king’s.
Opening times, entry and access change. Check with Cadw or the site you’re visiting before you set off. Details here show the date we checked them.
Clues to a Welsh-built castle
- Unlike the geometric English fortresses, Welsh castles tend to be irregular, made to fit their rocky settings. Cadw: More about Castell Dolwyddelan
- Deep rock-cut ditches often strengthened their natural defences. Cadw: More about Castell Dolwyddelan
- Welsh castles had lower walls, and characteristic D-shaped (not round) towers that were the real strongholds. Cadw: More about Castell Dolwyddelan
- A Welsh D-shaped tower is rectangular with one half-rounded end: a roomy living chamber, with a wide field of fire from the rounded end. Cadw booklet: The Castles of the Lords and Princes of Wales (PDF)
Clues to an English royal castle
- Concentric castles have “walls within walls”: an inner ring of defences inside an outer one. Cadw: Castell Rhuddlan
- Edward I liked his castles on the coast, so supplies could still arrive by sea if a campaign ran into trouble. Cadw: Castell Rhuddlan
- Edward did not just build castles: he created English towns to go with them. Cadw: More about Beaumaris Castle
- UNESCO lists the features still on show: barbicans, drawbridges, fortified gates, chicanes, redoubts, dungeons, towers and curtain walls. UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd
Look closer
Traces of lime render show that Conwy Castle was originally white. Cadw: More about Castell Conwy
Its leaning south-east tower leans more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Cadw: Caerphilly Castle
Its curtain walls are made of unmortared slate slabs. Cadw: Castell Dolbadarn
Free to visit (checked 31 Oct 2026)
Cadw lists Castell y Bere as free entry, open all year in reasonable daylight hours. Cadw: Castell y Bere · checked 31 Oct 2026 Cadw lists Dolbadarn as free entry and open all year. Cadw: Castell Dolbadarn · checked 31 Oct 2026
Dolwyddelan (checked 31 Oct 2026)
Dolwyddelan’s interior opens April to September on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays; on other days it is external viewing only. Cadw: Castell Dolwyddelan · checked 31 Oct 2026
Cilmeri
A granite monolith at Cilmeri marks where Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native prince of Wales, is believed to have been killed in 1282. Cadw: Castles of the Lords and Princes of Wales
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