Caerphilly Castle

by
Amelia
Caerphilly Castle was built between 1268 and 1271 by Gilbert de Clare, the Anglo-Norman lord of Glamorgan. It is in the town of Caerphilly, in the southern part of Wales. Llwedlyn ap Gruffyd, the last native prince of Wales, had become lord of the greater part of Wales. Caerphilly Castle was built in response to this threat.
Spreading over 30 acres, Caerphilly Castle is a concentric castle, which means that there are many rings of defenses. The first defense was the outer moat. After that came the outer wall and outer gatehouses. Next came the inner wall and gatehouses. Water defences were very useful back then because using them, catapults could not be brought into range, and ladders were useless.
But Llwedlyn ap Gruffyd probably didn't like the idea of a castle being built on his land, and in 1270 his troops burnt the fortifications at Caerphilly. De Clare would not be stopped, though, and building continued in 1271. In 1276 Edward the First declared war on Wales. By then Caerphilly was no longer being used as a fortress, and when welsh power was broken in a second campaign, Caerphilly was used by the de Clare family as an administrative center. Caerphilly Castle survived a Welsh Revolt in 1295 and was besiged during the war between King Edward the Second and Queen Isabella.


I built my model of Caerphilly Castle out of balsa wood. The base is made of foam core.

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