Following our visit to Penrhyn Castle, which looks like a fortified castle but isn’t, the next day we went to Castell Caernarfon (Caernarfon Castle), which is a fortified castle. It’s one of the four that make up the UNESCO World Heritage Site; we visited Conwy and Beaumaris last year, leaving Harlech for a future visit.
The castle sits on the edge of the Menai Strait (Caernarfon pretty much translates as ‘castle overlooking Anglesey), and, like Conwy, the town of Caernarfon has walls around it which adjoin the castle.
History of Caernarfon Castle
As per the other three castles that make up the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the current castle at Caernarfon was commissioned by Edward I of England in the 13th Century. However, it was built on the site of an older, 11th Century motte and bailey castle. As Caernarfon was to be Edward’s administrative centre of North Wales, it was built on a much grander scale that the other castles and so is significantly bigger.
However, like Beaumaris, the money ran out before it was completely finished, with work ending in 1330, almost fifty years after it was commissioned. So, parts of Caernarfon castle were never fully completed, such as the King’s Gate which forms the modern day entrance to the castle. Apart from a brief period during the 1294 Welsh rebellion, Caernarfon remained in English hands, including during the Glyndŵr rising in the 15th Century. It played a role in the English Civil War in the 17th Century, but was then abandoned until the 19th Century when repairs began to be undertaken. These repairs were more extensive than to other castles such as Beaumaris, and saw parts of the castle reinstated rather than preserved as ruins.
In the 20th Century, the investiture of the Prince of Wales was conducted twice at Caernarfon. This ceremony was promoted by the local MP David Lloyd George, who later became Prime Minister. The first investiture was of Prince Edward in 1911, who later became King Edward III, and the second was in 1959 which saw Prince Charles (now current King Charles III) be invested by Queen Elizabeth II. This was broadcast on TV and recordings are available to view at the castle, as well as the throne used by Queen. Following Charles’ ascent to King in 2022, Prince William has become Prince of Wales, but I gather neither Charles, William or the Welsh Government have much desire to hold another ceremony.
Visiting Caernarfon Castle
We spent 3-4 hours at the castle, and managed to see most of it. You can walk along the outer walls, and go into most of the towers. Some of the towers have attractions inside them:
- There’s a museum for the Royal Welch Fusiliers, who are best known for having a goat as their mascot – entry is included as part of your ticket for the whole castle and they have their own gift shop.
- The North East Tower has a ‘800 years of history in 8 minutes’ looping video.
- There are also exhibitions about Edward I’s wife, Eleanor of Castille, and a chess board showing the roles of various Welsh princes and how they unsuccessfully challenged Edward I.
When we visited, there were also wooden cannons that you could use to fire ping-pong balls, courtesy of Dan’s Cannons. Our ten-year-old loved these. The courtyard inside the castle is quite large and so events take place there from time to time.
Compared to Beaumaris and Conwy, there is a lot more to see at Caernarfon Castle and you can probably stretch it out to almost a full day.
Accessibility
Caernarfon Castle has undergone a relatively recent accessibility upgrade, and so there is now a lift in the King’s Gate to the battements. This offers step-free access to the top of the King’s Gate and some of the castle walls for the first time. However, much of the rest of the castle is only accessible by stairs, and in some cases, quite narrow spiral staircases. Indeed, the courtyard isn’t all flat and so the video room in the North East Tower is only reachable by steps, even though ramps could probably be installed.
There are disabled toilets on site, and whilst there isn’t a Changing Places toilet in the castle, the nearest one is only a short distance away at the station for the Welsh Highland Railway.
The castle is in the care of Cadw, so Cadw and English Heritage members get in free. I was also able to get free entry with my CSSC membership and some photo ID.
We parked at a long-stay pay-and-display car park next to the castle. This doesn’t offer any electric car charging facilities; the nearest car park with chargers is the Shell Car Park, to the north of the town near Morrisons (which also has two rapid chargers but time limited parking).
British Rail closed the railway line through Caernarfon in 1970 as one of the final Beeching closures. The Welsh Highland Railway runs narrow-gauge tourist trains from Porthmadog, but there are usually only a couple of trains each day. There are regular bus services to the town from Bangor which is the nearest surviving National Rail station.
Free Wi-Fi is available across the site. The café in the King’s Gate is currently closed, but there is another café in the courtyard with outdoor bench seating, selling sandwiches and cakes.
Other things to see in Caernarfon
Whilst me, our ten-year-old and my parents were happy to explore the castle, Christine wasn’t so keen and explored the town instead. By the castle is Cei Llechli, which is home to a number of shops and artist studios. There are, of course, the walls around the town, but you can only walk along short sections.
