A Diverse History of Wales – in Ruins

Wales has a long, rich and diverse history. We’ve brought you Interesting Historic Towns & Villages and the Industrial Heritage of Wales . Now we want to step further back in time to share some of the history you can find by exploring ruins and other archaeological sites of Wales.

We begin with castles and religious ruins from as early as the 11^th century. From there we step back to the Romans, who arrived around the middle of the 1^st century AD, and stayed for some 300 years. Then we take a peek at the Celtic Iron Age farmers, from 700 BC until the Romans arrived, and changed everything. And finally, a giant leap back of around 5000 years to the Neolithic peoples.

Once again, we offer you the sites we visited as a sample of what you can see. We encourage you to make your own journey through this small country, in order to encounter the diverse history of Wales in ruins yourself. There is so much more to discover.

Appreciate the diverse history of wales by visiting ancient burial sites, roman ruins, and castles, churches or abbeys, whether in ruins or restored.

Is Wales the “castle capital of the world”?

It has been named so. There were around 600 castles built in Wales, and some 100 or so are still standing in various states, from fully restored to ruins. The rest are mounds of earth or a small pile of stones, where once there was magnificence. Quite often the fully restored castles are in daily use as tourist attractions or event centres. Generally, we are much more interested in the ones that are cared for in their ruined state to halt deterioration, rather than those completely restored. But, we have visited both.

The Normans were responsible for introducing castles to England and Wales after their invasion in 1066. So most castles originate from somewhere between the 11^th and 14^th centuries. Although, many were destroyed and rebuilt, or deserted and later revived, and were changed in the process.

Here’s a short description of each of the castles we visited in Wales, in the order that we saw them:

UNESCO World Heritage Castles in North Wales

I’ll group these 4 castles – Conwy, Beaumaris, Caernarfon, and Harlech – since Juergen has already written a dedicated post about The 4 Impressive World Heritage Castles of Wales . He included some of the history of the times, when King Edward I went on a castle building spree to control the Welsh in their own country. They were all built in the late 13^th and early 14^th centuries.

UNESCO World Heritage castles in Wales: this is Caernarfon Castle, viewed from across the River Seiont mouth, on which it sits.

St David’s Bishops had a Country Retreat

Llawhaden was a fortified palace, built and rebuilt for the bishops of St David’s (which we will tell you about below). The first castle was built in 1115, but only a small part is still present on the site. It was totally rebuilt in the 14^th century, in a much more opulent and grand style as befitted these very important men, and it’s the remains of this castle you can visit today.

Compared with the World Heritage castles, which are mostly fairly complete and in good condition, Llawhaden shows only a remnant of its former glory, from when the Bishops were in residence. But it was enough to make it worth the drive down some narrow country roads, and the short walk along a lane, to the impressive remains of the gate. We spent a bit more than half an hour at the site.

The impressive gatehouse of Llawhaden Castle – even in its state of ruin, it gives clear indication of its former magnificence. Nothing but the best for the Bishops of St David’s.

The ruin of Llawhaden Castle. This served as a country retreat for the Bishop’s of St David’s.

From Roman Fort to Norman Castle to Victorian Gothic Fantasy Palace

Cardiff Castle, right in the city centre of the capital of Wales, is impressive. It’s one of those that’s almost fully restored and a big tourist attraction, but we couldn’t avoid being impressed by what was on display, from our very first sight.

There are 2000 years of history here. Inside the complex you will find the remains and reconstruction of Roman walls and a gate; the ruin of a Norman keep; a clock tower, which was the tallest structure in Cardiff when it was built in Victorian times; and the House, as the huge castle or palace is known. In the 16^th century it was owned by wealthy and influential people, who turned it into a luxurious home. It then fell into disrepair until it came into the hands of the Bute family in 1766. In the Victorian era, the 3^rd Marquess of Bute turned the castle into the House you will see today. It’s really a ‘medieval dream palace’.

In 1947, the 5^th Marquess of Bute gifted the castle to the city of Cardiff. It was then used by the Welsh College of Music and Drama between 1949 and 1974. Today, it’s a tourist attraction and event centre.

Cardiff Castle: this is not a ruin. In fact, it has been changed over the centuries into the very opulent ‘House’ you can visit today, thanks to the Bute dynasty.

You can take guided tours of the House. We found it very interesting because the guide, a former policeman, who had discovered the joy of his life in retirement, was enthusiastic and very informative. You can also download a free Cardiff Castle app or take an audio guide as you wander around and explore. We can really recommend this experience if you are visiting Cardiff.

Please click thumbnails below for a larger photo with description.

Replacing the Fairy Tale with the Biggest Castle of Wales

After visiting Cardiff Castle, we were very keen to visit another property built by the 3^rd Marquess of Bute. Castell Coch is known as “Wales’ fairytale castle” , and was reconstructed on the foundations of a 13^th century castle, as a country residence for the industrial tycoon. We thought it might complement our impressions from the ‘House’ in Cardiff. Unfortunately, it was closed for repairs and renovations when we arrived and there was no indication when it would re-open.

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So, we drove down the road a bit to Caerphilly Castle, which was a fine substitute. After Caernarfon Castle in the north, I think we were probably most impressed by this one in the south. It is impressive from a distance, with its ‘concentric’ wall within a wall structure, surrounded by water and its rather odd ‘leaning tower’ (which leans even more than the famous leaning tower of Pisa). Not only is it the largest castle in Wales, but second only in size to Windsor Castle in all of Britain.

Caerphilly Castle: Wales’ biggest castle is a concentric castle, surrounded by water. The best defenses possible.

Up close, you can wander for hours; up and down towers, along the walls, and into the Great Hall – which really is great.

Incidentally, the 3^rd Marquess of Bute was responsible for using some of his massive wealth to begin the restoration of this behemoth.

Please click thumbnails below for a larger photo with description.

Henry VIII gives us Religious Heritage in Ruins

A Patron Saint, a Palace and a Cathedral

Saint David is the patron saint of Wales. The city bearing his name is situated on the most westerly point of Wales, and has a population of less than 2000. As such, it’s classified as the smallest city, due to population, in Britain.

St David’s Cathedral was established in the 12^th century, although the site was in religious use from the 6^th century, when St David established a monastery. The Bishop’s Palace was built at least a century later over a long period of time, as successive bishops added their own style and opulence to the place.

St David’s Cathedral in the foreground and the ruin of the Bishop’s Palace behind; an important part of the diverse religious history of Wales.

Today, St David’s Cathedral is still a functioning cathedral, although now Anglican rather than Catholic. Since around the time of the Reformation, the Bishops Palace is a ruin; an interesting ruin that is now both a tourist attraction and a venue for open air theatre and concerts. Both draw a lot of tourist interest in this remote corner of Wales.

The Great Hall of St David’s Bishop’s Palace. The wheel-shaped window is further evidence of the former grandeur of this building.

Please click thumbnails below for a larger photo with description.

Dissolution presents the ruin of Cymer Abbey

Abbeys in ruins are all too common in Great Britain. Following Henry VIII’s break with the Catholic Church, his dissolution of the monasteries in the 16^th century saw their lands and assets seized for the crown, and most became the ruins we can visit today.

The most famous abbey in ruins in Wales must be Tintern, but we chose to visit Cymer Abbey because it was only slightly off our route when following the west coast of Wales. It gave us a small experience of what you could expect in larger sites around Britain. This was a small, poor abbey and its church was never completed due to lack of funds, but you can get an impression of its grandeur from the ruins which remain.

Abbeys in Ruins dot the Welsh landscape. Cymer Abbey is the one we visited. Here we are standing in the nave of the church.

The Romans came to Wales

Wales has fewer Roman sites than England. It has been suggested that the mountainous terrain may have been a factor in dissuading them. In the North, there is the Segontium Roman Fort in the town of Caernarfon, which you can visit while you are there to see the World Heritage listed Caernarfon Castle – we didn’t, unfortunately.

The Roman remains that can be seen at Cardiff Castle are mentioned above. There are also two sites within easy reach of Cardiff: Caerwent Roman Town and Caerleon Roman Fortress & Baths. We visited the latter.

Caerleon was one of only three permanent Roman legion fortresses in Britain. (The other two were in Chester and York.) It was home to the 2nd Augustan Legion. The 20 hectare site includes some impressive ruins: the foundations of an amphitheatre, which could hold 6000 spectators; 64 rows of barrack blocks foundations; and a small remaining part of the fortress wall. We took a pleasant walk to reach these sites but, if you are pressed for time, don’t miss the Roman baths. The remains are representative of the Roman everday life, and have been presented in a way that makes it easy to understand how they were used. Normally, we don’t particularly like the modern audio-visual museum displays, but this one works.

Caerleon Roman Fortress & Baths: the ruin of the amphitheatre is down to its foundations, but the size of this arena, which could seat 6000 spectators, is still impressive.

The presence in Caerlon of the National Roman Legion Museum emphasises the importance of this whole site to the Roman history of Great Britain. In the museum, you will see many different artefacts, including a large amount of coins, which were introduced into general usage in Britain by the Romans. We found this a very interesting place to spend some time.

Please click thumbnails below for a larger photo with description.

Prehistoric Sites: more archaeology than ruins

Prehistory is divided into 3 ages: Stone, Bronze and Iron ages. The Iron Age in Great Britain spans the 7 centuries before the Romans arrived in the 1^st century AD. The Stone Age comes several millennia earlier.

Where did Iron Age people live?

When we visited St Fagan’s National Museum of History , we saw 2 conjoined roundhouses from the Iron Age. These were the most common houses during the Bronze and Iron Ages in Britain. The reconstructions are based on archaeological information from a site on Anglesey.

Iron Age Roundhouses: this is what houses probably looked like 2500 years ago in Wales. At St Fagan’s National Museum of History you can wander inside and get a feel of how life might have been.

What did the ancients do with their dead?

Our last site is a burial mound of the Neolithic or New Stone Age – from 4000-2400 BC. This was the age when farming began and people became more settled than their hunter and gatherer forebears. The most common monuments left behind from these people are burial chambers. You can find them all over Britain, and there are some remarkable sites on the island of Anglesey in Wales. We visited Bryn Celli Ddu . You can walk right into the mound, which has a passage from one side to the other. At sunrise on the summer solstice, the sunlight passes directly down the passage and lights up the chamber inside. How amazing were our ancestors?

Archaeologists have recently discovered that there are several mounds in this site and there were busy excavations being done when we visited.

Bryn Celli Ddu: a burial site from around 5000 years ago. Ongoing archaeological work in this area on the island of Anglesey is producing more information and understanding about the lives of our ancient ancestors.

We always find history fascinating. Wherever we travel, we like to visit authentic sites where people actually carried on their normal lives. The long, diverse history of Wales, we discovered in the ruins we visited, was extremely interesting. We hope you are inspired by the small taste presented in this post. If you are curious about the facts, and would like to find out more, we can recommend this BBC guide to the history of Wales .

We hope you’ve enjoyed these sites through our eyes. They are just a small portion of the diverse industrial heritage of this small country. If you have discovered other sites on a journey through Wales, please share them with us in a comment below.

Do you wonder how we discovered some of these sites, particularly the smaller ones?
We used 2 main sources of information. First, the DK Travel Guide to Great Britain always inspires us with clear information about what we can see, where. Secondly, CADW provides 2 free maps, of north and south Wales, which have the locations of many interesting sites marked on them. Or download their excellent mobile phone app , which has a map, photos, and short descriptions of each place. We found this particularly helpful when we had chosen a route and wanted to check if there was anything of interest along the way.

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Our highly recommended guidebook for people who are looking for valuable information about all of Great Britain: the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Great Britain ! This book is for travellers who are more interested in the sights than recommendations for restaurants or hotels.

Find this guidebook on Amazon.