In the footsteps of King Harold
Rhuddlan
Denbighshire
Rhuddlan is located in Denbighshire, north Wales, on the banks of the River Clwyd, at the junction of the A547 and A525. Map reference: SJ 024 779.
The settlement of Rhuddlan is likely to have owed its origin to the presence of the lowest fording-place on the river Clwyd. From here, a track led across a marsh and then to the mountainous heart of north Wales. Rhuddlan's position thus marked it out as a key point in the struggles that for some 600 years (c. 700-c. 1300) swayed to and fro across the Welsh/English border.
By 1062, Rhuddlan had become an llys (substantial residence) and royal seat of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. It was also the base from which that powerful prince – the last true high king of Wales – plundered the English lands as far east as Oswestry and Wrexham. Unluckily for Gruffydd, it had been four years since Harold had assumed responsibility for the earldom of Hereford and for the problems of border defence. By the winter of 1062/3, he was ready to strike.
When his scouts spied Harold advancing against him, Gruffydd beat a hasty retreat from plundering the area around Wrexham. However, despite the deep snow, Harold continued to pursue the prince as he retreated into Wales. The Horseshoe Pass high above the town of Llangollen was full of wind-driven snow, and many of Harold's men and animals lost their lives because of the cold. By now, the tracks of the retreating Gruffydd had also been lost.
At this point, Harold almost gave up. However, one of his scouts came upon a wind-cleared patch of ground in the upper reaches of the river Clwyd, which revealed that Gruffydd had passed that way. Harold and his men turned north and swept down the Clwyd valley.
At Rhuddlan, having received news that Harold was advancing down the valley, Gruffydd began to load his ship at the quay side. A gust of wind entered the ship's sails, driving it down the river just as the first of Harold's men appeared a mile north of the castle. Gruffydd and some of his followers escaped; a furious Harold razed Rhuddlan to the ground.
Gruffydd didn't have much time left: he was murdered by his own followers the following August. Three years later, Harold himself lost the decisive battle of Hastings and his life.
In 1073, at the command of William the Conqueror, a motte-and-bailey castle was thrown up at Rhuddlan by Robert of Rhuddlan, who had been granted power over the whole of north Wales beyond the Clwyd. Robert made Rhuddlan the base from which he set out to exploit and consolidate the holding in Gwynedd entrusted to him by the king. Robert's earthen mound – traditionally occupying the site of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn's palace – still rises impressively to the south of its 13th-century successor, while the outline of its bailey may still be traced in the adjoining fields.
During the following two centuries, the castle and town changed hands many times, as the tide of border warfare favoured first the Welsh and then the English. Then the age-old border struggle entered its last phase, in which Rhuddlan was to assume an increased importance.
The political disunity in England between Henry III and the barons gave Llywelyn ap Gruffydd an opportunity to establish his authority over all the lesser princes of Wales. Assuming the title 'Prince of Wales', he won recognition first from the English barons' leader Simon de Montfort and, in 1267, from King Henry himself.
However, Llywelyn, failing to realise the new unity achieved under Edward I (who became king in 1272), directly challenged the monarch's power. In 1276, after putting up with this for two years, Edward decided to make Llywelyn submit by force. On 22 August 1277, the king moved his headquarters to Rhuddlan, and the following month – in an unexpectedly speedy end to the war – Llywelyn surrendered. However, it was not until November that hostilities were formally terminated by the submission of Llywelyn to the king at Rhuddlan.
Meanwhile, under Edward's direction, work was put in hand on the erection of an entirely new stronghold a little to the north-west of Robert of Rhuddlan's motte-and-bailey. This is mainly what can be seen today.
Rhuddlan Castle
www.castlewales.com/rhudln.html
Informative site with great pictures.
