Photos of the Beautiful Medieval Beaumaris Castle Wales

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Photos of the Beautiful Medieval Beaumaris Castle Wales. An Edward I Castle built in 1284. Photos by photographer Paul E Williams.   (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Beautiful Medieval Beaumaris Castle Wales.

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Photos of the Medieval Beaumaris Castle, built in 1284 by Edward 1st, considered to be one of the finest example of 13th century military architecture by UNESCO. A World Heritage Site.

Edward I orders Beaumaris to be Built

in 1282 Edward I ordered Beaumaris to be built on the Isle of Anglesey Wales. Edward I had finished his initial campaign against the Welsh lords so he set about building a series of castles to assure that his control over Wales would not slip.

State of the Art Military Design

Beaumaris Castle was the last of these great castles to be built and was engineered as the the state of the art castle of its day. Beaumaris Castle is surrounded by a moat which was once linked to the sea so the castle could be provisioned from the sea.

The outer walls of the castle have 2 round towers along each side which give a vantage point to defending soldiers. Inside the outer is a higher inner wall with higher towers. This allowed defenders to see over the outer wall and fire arrows. If the outer wall was breached a killing zone would be created between the inner and outer walls.

The inner ward had accommodation for 2 separate households, presumably for Edward I when he visited and his castle lord. Building so many great Castles in Wales drained Edward I finances and in 1284 he had to stop work on Beaumaris.

Work Stops on Beaumaris

The Madog ap Llywelyn uprising in 1295 forced Edward to resume building Beaumaris Castle but in 1306 funds had to be diverted to fight the Scots who threatened the invasion of Northern England.

The Cost of Building Beaumaris

By 1330 and a total of £15,000 has been spent building Beaumaris, which was a staggering amount of money at the time. With no more money available Beaumaris Castle was never fully completed but was garrisoned all the same. Today its remains are impressive, especially when viewed from a distance with the sea and the mountains of Snowdonia as a backdrop.

Edward I Expels the Jews

Edward 1 financed his wars and castle building by initially borrowing money from the Jews in England and from the Florentine bankers. As Edwards debts grew greater he started taxing the Jews harder until finally, in 1290, he expelled the Jews from England taking their land and property.

Edward I Dies with Massive Debts

The debts Edward I left on his death in 1307 were staggering and in 1340 Edward II defaulted on the £150,000 loans from the Florentine banks. This default ended the glory days of Florence.

Historian Arnold Taylor described Beaumaris Castle as the most perfect of the Welsh castles and praised its symmetry. His views are supported by UNESCO who added Beaumaris to its World Heritage site list stating that it is “the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe” .