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The Impact of the Edwardian Castles in Wales

edited by Diane Williams and John Kenyon

The Impact of the Edwardian Castles in Wales publishes the proceedings of a conference held in 2007 a year that marked the seventh centenary of the death of King Edward I which set out to review recent scholarship on castles that he built in north Wales after two wars, in 1277 and 1282-83 and a Welsh uprising in 1294-95, and to rethink the effect that their building had upon Wales in the past, present and future. Building upon the seminal work of Arnold Taylor, whose study of the buildings and documentary evidence has been pivotal to Edwardian castle studies for more than fifty years, the volume includes papers which call into question the role of Master James of St George as the architect of the kings new castles; the role of Richard the Engineer, the nature of royal accommodation in the thirteenth century and a detailed look at how households worked, especially in the kitchen and accounting departments. New approaches to castle studies are encouraging a more holistic understanding of the Edwardian castles and their context and to this end papers consider their impact on Welsh society and its princes in the thirteenth century, notably Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (Fawr, the Great) and his grandson, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, prince of Wales. Their symbolism and meaning through the words of Welsh poets and the mythology behind Caernarfon Castle are also examined, so too is the role of Welshmen in Edward Is armies. The wider context is considered with papers on the Edwardian towns in Wales, the baronial castles in north Wales and Edward I in Scotland and Gascony. The castles still have powerful resonance and the Minister for Heritage in the Welsh Assembly Government considers their role and presentation in Wales today and in the future. Robert Liddiard concludes that the volume 'not only takes our knowledge of the Edwardian castles forward, but also informs the study of castles in the British Isles'. 240p, 120 b/w illus, 16p of colour plates (Oxbow Books 2009)

Review Quotes

"This volume is well edited and handsomely produced at an affordable price..."

Paul Courtney
The Medieval Review (November 2011)

"This collection of over 20 essays is clearly timely... collectively these essays triumphantly breathe life into the monumental legacy of one of England's greatest kings."

Paul Stamper
British Archaeology (Nov/Dec 2010)

"While conference proceedings are all too often random collections of papers intended only for academic consumption, the essays brought together in this volume should appeal to anyone with an interest in castles and medieval history. Even readers unfamiliar with this period of medieval history will find this to be a highly readable volume."

James Beresford
Minerva, vol 21, No. 6 (Nov/Dec 2010)

"I must congratulate Oxbow Books on the production of such an educational and attractive publication. Within these covers lie new information and a fresh perspective on the history of Edward I’s castles in Wales, and an important contribution to the study of castles all over the British Isles."

Y Cymro (April 2010)

Table of Contents

Foreword (Huw Pryce)
Edward I and Wales (Michael Prestwich)
From Llywelyn ap Gruffudd to Edward I: Expansionist Rulers and Welsh society in Thirteenth-Century Gwynedd (David Stephenson)
Gwynedd Before and After the Conquest (David Longley)
The Castles of the Princes of Gwynedd (Lawrence Butler)
James of St George (Nicola Coldstream)
The Life and Career of Richard the Engineer (Rick Turner)
Builth Castle and Aberystwyth Castle 1277–1307 (David Browne)
The King’s Accommodation at his Castles (Jeremy Ashbee)
Food Supply and Preparation at the Edwardian Castles (Peter Brears)
The Landscapes of Edward’s New Towns: Their Planning and Design (Keith Lilley)
The Building Stones of the Edwardian Castles (Graham Lott)
‘Twr Dewr Gwyncwerwr’ (‘A Brave Conqueror’s Tower’) Welsh Poetic Responses to the Edwardian castles (Dylan Foster Evans)
Caernarfon Castle and its Mythology (Abigail Wheatley)
The Conservation and Restoration of Caernarfon Castle 1845–1915 (Richard Avent)
Arnold Taylor’s Contribution to the Study of the Edwardian Castles in Wales (John R. Kenyon)
The Baronial Castles of the Welsh Conquest (John A. A. Goodall)
Edward I’s Building Works in Gascony (Marc Morris)
Welshmen in the Armies of Edward I (Adam Chapman)
Scottorum Malleus: Edward I and Scotland (Chris Tabraham)
A Research Agenda for the Edwardian Castles (Robert Liddiard)
King Edward I’s Castles in North Wales — Now and Tomorrow (Alun Ffred Jones AM)

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