Caerphilly castle

in the town centre, caerphilly, south wales location map link for caerphilly castle

caerphilly castle is one of the great medieval castles of western europe. several factors give it this pre-eminence - its immense size 1.2h, making it the largest in britain after windsor, its large-scale use of water for defence and the fact that it is the first truly concentric castle in britain. of the time of its building in the late 13th century, it was a revolutionary masterpiece of military planning
one of henry iiis most powerful and ambitious barons, gilbert de clare, lord of glamorgan, built this castle. his purpose was to secure the area and prevent lowland south wales from falling into the hands of the welsh leader llywelyn the last, who controlled most of mid and north wales. de clare built other castles on the northern fringes of his territory for the same purpose, such as castell coch. he had seized the upland district of senghenydd, i...