Caernarfon Castle - Early Castle

Early Castle

Following the Norman Conquest of England, William the Conqueror turned his attention to Wales. According to the Domesday Survey of 1086, the Norman Robert of Rhuddlan was notionally in charge of the whole of northern Wales. He was killed by the Welsh in 1088. His cousin the Earl of Chester, Hugh d'Avranches, reasserted Norman control of north Wales by building three castles: one at an unknown location somewhere in Meirionnydd, one at Aberlleiniog on Anglesey, and another at Caernarfon. This early castle was on a peninsula, bounded by the River Seiont, the Menai Strait; it would have been a motte and bailey, defended by a timber palisade and earthen banks. While the motte, or mound, was integrated into the later Edwardian Castle, the location of the original bailey is uncertain, although it may have been to the north-east of the motte. Excavations on top of the motte in 1969 revealed no traces of medieval occupation, suggesting any evidence had been removed. It is likely that the motte was surmounted by a wooden tower known as a keep. The Welsh recaptured Gwynedd in 1115, and Caernarfon Castle came into the possession of the Welsh princes. From contemporary documents written at the castle, it is known that Llywelyn the Great and later Llywelyn ap Gruffudd occasionally stayed at Caernarfon.