Criccieth Castle, (CADW)

Admission charge (summer only) ticket office is accessible together with exhibitions on the Welsh Princes and Gerald of Wales (including video). Toilets (RADAR) key held at desk. Difficult to access the castle which is at the top of a steep slope.

Set atop a rocky headland overlooking Cardigan Bay, Criccieth Castle is the most striking of the fortresses built by the native Welsh princes. Its inner defences are the work of Llywelyn the Great (d1240): dominated by a powerful twin-towered gatehouse, they incorporated the latest developments in medieval military architecture. Though Llewelyn later strengthened the castle the Last (d1282) it fell to Edward I, becoming a link in his chain of English fortresses around Gwynedd.
The Welsh eventually had their revenge in 1404, when Owain Glyndwr\'s insurgents sacked the castle so thoroughly that its walls even now bear marks of burning.
Never re-occupied since, its imposing ruins became a favourite subject for romantic artists.