I love the fact that when talking about Edward 1st 13th century castle being the “new”, but incorporating the old. We are actually talking about a castle that was built nearly 1000 years ago, being the “new” one. 😮 👍 It’s brilliant that we in the UK still have such amazing historical structures.
Yes you do, here in the States, we have nothing more that a few hundred years old, except for Mesa Verde in Colorado. Ancient indigenous people dwellings. My family came from England back in the 1600’s, my dream is to someday get to the UK and see these amazing places in person. My heart is in Windsor.
It's incredible and a shame that parliament destroyed so many castles after the Civil War in the 1640s so they couldn't be used against the parliament in the future
@@WhiteCheddar. : I am german, from the southwest. In HRE era, my homeregion was the most divided region of Germany. In great age of Hohenstaufen dynasty 1150 to 1250, german Knights culture had its highest point. My homeregion is fillled with hundreds of castle ruins. But few had been large castles of Imperial Crownland (Up to 1253) or mighty families of high Nobility. Most had been small, and very small castles of Knights and socalled Noble Free ( Edelfreie) families. Most had been stone made, but some had been still wood/ earth buildings, or just lightly fortified manour Houses. Those ones, between Neckar River and northern end of Swabian Alb Plateau used small hills and the ditches of very small rivers ( Bäche) as natural fortifications, but at the clifflike northern end of Swabian Alb Plateau many, mostly small ruins are at places on rocks or ,Cliff corners', where an assault was nearly Impossible.
@@deniseroe5891 there’d probably be a lot more indigenous buildings and history left if our ancestors hadn’t destroyed it all. My ancestors were mayflower era people too. My heart is with all the destroyed history and people that can never be recovered.
@@bv3710 Hope you get there. With all the crap going on in this country I've contemplated moving and have considered France, Italy, Switzerland, and Ireland as hopefuls. May God be willing.
part of me wishes we would restore these castles back to how they would've looked back in the day,the other part of me knows its best to keep it the way it is
Several years ago, there was this dragon statue thing doing a tour of Welsh castles to celebrate all things Welsh. I remember thinking to myself how ironic that they're having events to celebrate Wales taking place in the castles built to oppress it. Being born (and living in) north Wales is fantastic if you love medieval history, though. Spent most of my childhood summers playing footie in Rhuddlan castle's moat!
Anyone interested in welsh history of this time needs to read Sharon Penman's Welsh Trilogy. Starts with Llewyllyn and King John's many issues in Here be Dragons and ends with Edward's final blow and Llewyllyn ap Gryffudd's death. Amazing epic and sad story. And pretty historically accurate unlike most historical fiction these days.
The most extensive and expensive castle building program ever undertaken in Europe, which almost bankrupt the crown coffers. All to subdue a tiny nation of hill tribes. The fact that the native Cymry are still here at all is a miracle of resilience and stubborn resistance against all odds. A narrative sadly ignored by the mainstream historical accounts.
Respectfully, if you were the King of England and had enemies on your western & northern borders, what would you do. Edward 1st sought to create a single nation, but one under his rule of course. Indeed, it is the unification of England under Althlestan into a single kingdom as compared to the fragmented, feudal & often inter-waring societies in Scotland, Wales & Ireland, that was a significant factor why England emerged to be economically & militarily dominant. Sorry, but that's just historic fact. 👍
@@xyzsimo7017 Again respectfully, it was the Norman yoke that unified England and resulted in all legal and political administration being held in French for hundreds of years. This happened in the blink of an eye following 1066. However the subjugation of the Cymry took almost 250 years and was a much more protracted and expensive affair. There is the usual Anglo centric narrative, but also another narrative that is usually ignored by mainstream historians. The fact is, that despite the might of Rome, the Angle Saxon Jute Flemish and countless other mercenary hordes, the Vikings, Norman English and eventually the English, the native Cymry are still here.
@@andrewwhelan7311 The Anglo-Saxons had a completely different battle traditon to the Welsh. It was Anglo-Saxon tradition to have battles where all cards are put down on the table and its a bloody battle to the last man standing, hence why powerhouses switched regions fastly and entire noble families got wiped out and replaced so often. Even when the Vikings invaded England, there were times when Vikings (contrary to their Hollywood mythology) would hide behind forts, refuse to come out and the Anglo-Saxon army would have to go home in disappointment. That's why the Normans took power in the "blink of an eye" as you put it, when Harold fell, the Anglo-Saxons should have legged it there and then but they all fought to the last. Whereas the Welsh fought more of a continental style of warfare, hit and run tactics. Also, the English identity triumphed over the entire Isles of Britain. You all speak our language, we don't speak yours and it's our langauge that's spread to every corner of the planet.
Wrong Llywelyn. Llywelyn Fawr (the Great)died in 1240. It was his grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffydd who was recognised in the Treaty of Montgomery. Also the Welsh for court is llys not Clys. Deganwy Castle was demolished by Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in 1263 to prevent it being used by the English.
I could not suppress a grin when I noticed that Google, under your fine contribution, placed a link to "Translate to English". This is how some intelligence is artificial.
The tower of London is older than Conway castle and that is beautifully maintained with the money it gets from tourism. There is no excuse for not maintaining and restoring these beautiful old buildings.
Oh yeah cause as if theyre not 'grade one listed buildings' Restoration is for morons..i dont want to visit a new build castle. If i did id visit Germany @@kr3586
That’s hardly a fair comparison! The Tower of London has been in use since the 11th century, with additions and modifications in over the centuries. Being an important royal and government centre ensured that. Conwy and most other castles fell out of use over time, mostly when castles stopped being of practical use militarily. Keeping those castles in good nick when they aren’t required would be ridiculously and ruinously expensive: big structures like that need vast amounts of money, why would people spend such sums on something not needed?
It's often claimed that ' _Ireland was England's first colony_ ' but yet , the walled, castellated ,English- plantation towns of Conwy ,Caernarfon, Aberystwyth etc would strongly suggest otherwise.
@@WalesTheTrueBritons Incorrect I'm afraid.The term Welsh and Wales were not from the 1800's but much earlier - from the 6th century - a term that ironically the invading Anglo Saxons used for the resident native Britons: _Wēalasc_ - meaning foreigner ,this word eventually became 'Welsh'. The 'mass colonisation ' of Wales in the 1800's was one that was inadvertent - a movement of people looking for work , whereas the purposely placed English colonists in the walled medieval towns of Wales was done with intent - to , dominate and to Anglicize. To colonise.
No, I said the forced development! Meaning the adoption of the name on masse, this very much occurred in the 1800s with the banning of their language. In doing so, within two or three generations the Britons of the Cymru became “Welsh”. And the foreign Anglo became British!
@@WalesTheTrueBritons Adoption of the name Welsh on masse in the 1800's ? Um ....nope.There's reference to the Cymry as the 'Welsh' centuries before the 1800's. As for the banning of the language,there wasn't a comprehensive policy by the British government to do so , schools in Wales used the 'Welsh Not' or 'Welsh stick' on a random basis - there was no blanket policy. The decline of the Welsh language sits firmly within Welsh-speaking families -those who decided not to pass it on to the next generation. The poet - playwright Dylan Thomas is a typical example: both Dylan's parents were Welsh speaking - but decided (as was fashionable at the time) _only_ to speak English. They went the extra mile though by sending him to elocution lessons - not only was his native language denied - but also his accent. As for the 'Anglo became the British ' ; this occurred earlier with the unification of the Scottish and English crowns in 1707 - though there are other even earlier references of England using the term _Britain_ .
@@cymro6537the vast majority of the population of England was unchanged after the Norman invasion as genetic research has shown. Only the nobility changed. The ppl of England are the same ppl they always were. Even the Anglo saxons only basically replaced the nobility. The true non Britons are the aristocracy
Allot thanks (History Hit) channel for sharing this historical valued 👍🏻 video with clearly explaining political circumstances, which led to Iron Castle 🏰 building
I first visited Conway castle as a boy in the 1960's. It has not changed at all and you would think with all the money they have taken over the years for admission some restoration work would have gone on at least to the Great Hall.
If it hasn't changed since the 60s they seem to be doing a pretty good job of preserving the castle in it's current state. Restoration is probably not their goal.
@@grahamthebaronhesketh. That's not going to happen. It'll just end up being a modern recreation of an ancient castle, on the site of an ancient castle. You might as well just build a new one, like Guedelon in France. Conwy Castle is historically valuable as an ancient monument because it hasn't been 'restored' into a modern interpretation of what it may have once looked like.
The added sound effects when he mentions the Great Hall and the area where the blacksmith would have been reminds me of the episode of Cunk on Earth where Philomena explains what might have happened in the ancient castle that she was stood in.
These monuments of English dominance, and indeed fear of the Welsh, remind me of the great Crusader castles of the 'Holy' land. Fear builds walls, power, greed and fear build them bigger. These great walled symbols are crumbling monoliths, but the deep mistrust of the oppressed stands firm. 'Hearts and minds' can't be won over with castles. All patriotic Celts and Muslims know it.
There's much in what some comments will be saying, that these huge walls are very sinister remnants of terrible repression, suppression and ultimately destruction of a culture.. And yet we do need to be reminded of these things.. Nice one team! ⭐👍
loving the implications that the welsh nobility didnt treat their subject like shit, just those nasty english. the welsh castles that the evil english tore down were built with rainbows and butterflies, not the blood and toil of the peasantry. yes, only the devilish english were awful oppressors, and it wasnt commonplace across across all cultures and nationalities of the known world at the time, not at all. unironically painting modern nationalistic ideas over medieval history is pointless and divisive
@@NonEventHorizon Me I'm a Sassenach I'm afraid, from E. Yorkshire, but it's always been shameful to my family, some of the behaviour of the English towards neibouring nations, now what we have is the cultural price to pay. A so called English barn dance, f'rinstance, cannot subsist wi'out a guid ladel or twa o' Scottish jigs, reels, hornpipes, Strathspeys and so on; English intervention has destroyed much of Welsh folk music. English people have to understand the negative aspects of dominance or attempted suppression. Sorry for the word salad, but ye got me goin' there.. 🤣👍
Historians often time say that this ring of Iron stopped the Welsh from rising against the English but there were rebellions and revolts even in the 14th century... granted, none of which were that significant until Owain Glyndwrs uprising. It wasn't until Henry VII became king that Welsh rebellions and riots stopped. Additionally, If Owain Lawgoch wasn't assassinated by the English it is very likely that we would have had a significant war in the 14th century.
And would have got slaughtered. Its well known fact that the Welsh never engaged in a single large scale battle. They only ever did a few skirmishes then ran back into the hills. And I'm in the north west of England with a family almost entirely Welsh so I've no dog in this fight. The 'celtic' thing is also bogus. There is no documented evidence that the Irish or British were in any way celtic until an oxbridge author invented it in the 1800s
I think theyd be full of pride that even that much is standing. Look around you at any new construction and try to picture ANYTHING built in the last 100 years still even having 1 wall standing in a thosand years.
Yeah cause they expected them to look like new builds 1000 years later. The Egyptian builders must me likewise as pissed off. One day an architect will solve the problem of time and decay, and we'll all live happily ever after
When conwy Castle was under seige , Edward his troops from Ireland, they sailed a short distance over the Irish Sea, right up to the castle , and broke the seige
Would be great, if they got a plan from a castle ruin, and try to rebuild it fully on another location… maybe near the original ruin. So we could see what it was like after it was built, and how it was built
"Prince" in Welsh "Tywysog" means Ruler,After the English took over Wales.The English king took the title and gave it to their first born as a final kick to the welsh.
Rephrase that please, after the English KING. Who was less english and more French. Please bare in mind that English ppl were also "kicked". William the conqueror started by booting all english landowners off their land, marrying off their daughters to his friends whod helped him invade. This was around 100 years later. Not a long time really. They were as alien to the Welsh as they were to he english.
@christinegreen6736 So u don't class any English king with Norman blood as a true English king??? I mean what is English anyways? A mix of many people from Europe. Mainly Germany,Scandinavia and the Rhinelands. The original Britons were the Celts Picts and Cornish
It's a bit silly taking umbrage at this post considering the current RF being built on German foundations. Very string, deep German foundations. The only true "English" kings were not English at all. They were the ancient Britons. Pre- Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Danes, Jutes, Norse, and Norman.
Recently stayed outside the city walls of conmy Castle on holiday and hands down is one of the most beautiful and well kept castles ever. So glad there's a video on this amazing place.
The seagulls love Conwy too....for the Castle towers and the tourists' ice creams. The walls are closed at the moment ( jul 2024) hopefully for restoration.
I am surprised they didn't use concrete. Surely gravel and sand are easier to handle than heavy blocks of stone. I am sure they can make quick lime with ashes. Concrete shouldn't be new by this point... Romans used it 1000 year prior and the Romans were on the British isles.
Please forgive my Yankee ignorance, but I am aware that in some circles there is Anti-English sentiment in Scotland (I'll set Ireland aside for this discussion), with Edward even being referred to as the Hammer of the Scots. Question: given Edward's powerful and aggressive stance in Wales, are there similar Anti-English (or resentment, however you want to call it) sentiments among some of the Welsh?
Not so much ; this due in a large part to the fact that the Welsh are generally unaware of their own history of centuries of resistance to English domination. One of these outcomes is the English bestowed title 'Prince of Wales' . The Welsh people wil proudly wave their banners - on any Royal visitation of the 'Prince of Wales' to their country. Blissfully unaware that they're the only people in the world that celebrate their own conquest 😂
@@Siddingsby Less ironic,? Not really .The very language that I type is an amalgamation of a Dark age,northern German dialect that has fused with medieval French - _English_ . The melding of the Anglo Saxon and Norman French was well established with the Welsh conquest of 1283. Linguistically, the English aren't the same people as the Anglo Saxons. The Welsh language in comparative terms has changed far less.
Modern Wales has a fair amount of cultural autonomy, if you visit you will see Welsh on signs and hear it spoken. Which is impressive since it was suppressed for a time and very, very different from the dominant language, English
@@scottabc72 That's quite correct.What _isn't_ mentioned however is how those bilingual signs came about - despite petitions and demand,successive governments in London wouldn't allow them -they wanted the English only signs, consequently, many occurrences of civil disobedience took place - the signs were daubed or damaged with many of those involved being incarcerated.The campaign however continued unabated - only then did London agree to the bilingual signs.
It sounds like a basic inflation index has been used, which wouldn’t give a fair comparison for such a big project. As this was a major financial outlay for the English state, if you compare that £15,000 with the size of the UK economy today, it comes out with a figure of about £9 billion in 2023 terms. Historical comparisons like this are very difficult though, especially over such a long time
Whoever made this documentary confused Llewelyn the Great, Llywelyn Ab Iorwerth, with Llywelyn Ap Gruffudd, known as Llywelyn the Last. It was Llywelyn Ap Gruffudd who was recognised as Prince of Wales in the Treaty of Montgomery. Llywelyn Ab Iorwerth was appeased by the English Barons in Magna Carta. He's literally mentioned more than anyone else in Magna Carta. Call yourselves Historians 🙄 I was considering subscribing to History Hits, but there's no chance of that now. Show proper respect to Welsh history!
This channel loves a good laugh at the expense of the Britons. The fact of the matter is this…they failed, The British are still here, they outlasted the Romans, Anglo, and Norman, and they’ll outlast the next group of Johnny come lately’s.
My name is William Conway and I am the last living Moore in King Edward’s lineage and the rightful heir to the castle of Wales. Just wanted to let you know that I know
i often wonder - if it wouldnt be better - to create some sort of small business inside these old sites. so you don't just look at it - you interact with it.
Never sure about the financial comparison, supposedly £15000 then or £11,000,000 today. Today £11,000,000 would get you two roundabouts, so how is it a castle was built and an entire town walled?
They did but they only used them when the health and safety ppl came round, which they were tipped off by a man who was deep undercover at the time. FACT.
parts of my family came to America from wales in the mid 1600's i wonder if there is any correlation between what i've seen in this video and part of my dads side of the family. regardless, working with stone is cool, i was honestly surprised when you guys cut that stone as fast as you did, i figured it wouldve taken much longer to shape a stone. cool stuff
Fortified stone and brick walled fortifications and castles were great defenses until they weren’t. The advent of gunpowder, canons, and firearms ended the age of castle building. It also spelled the doom of Constantinople unfortunately. It took centuries for tactics to catch up to the effectiveness of canons and firearms. Rows of troops standing up in open fields firing at each other all the way into the mid 19th century. 🙄. It wasn’t until WWI that generals decided that was pretty stupid.
I do wish the presenter would have spent five minutes researching how to say the different castle names around Wales: the F in Caernarfon is said like the English letter V, not an F, and Rhuddlan is butchered. And I say that as an Englishman!
Grunden til at tårnet ligger der, er for at kontrollere en handelsrute Det ligger midt imellem Helsingør og Roskilde og ved mølleåens udspring, det har været et vigtigt knudepunkt som har krævet beskyttelse tror jeg
Conwy is my favourite castle. I've never forgotten coming over the bridge across the estuary and seeing it for the first time.
I had the same experience walking over from Llandudno Junction. Conwy is an incredible little town--worth a visit for anyone.
I love the fact that when talking about Edward 1st 13th century castle being the “new”, but incorporating the old. We are actually talking about a castle that was built nearly 1000 years ago, being the “new” one. 😮 👍
It’s brilliant that we in the UK still have such amazing historical structures.
Yes you do, here in the States, we have nothing more that a few hundred years old, except for Mesa Verde in Colorado. Ancient indigenous people dwellings. My family came from England back in the 1600’s, my dream is to someday get to the UK and see these amazing places in person. My heart is in Windsor.
It's incredible and a shame that parliament destroyed so many castles after the Civil War in the 1640s so they couldn't be used against the parliament in the future
The Pharaoh castle is still the older
@@WhiteCheddar. : I am german, from the southwest. In HRE era, my homeregion was the most divided region of Germany. In great age of Hohenstaufen dynasty 1150 to 1250, german Knights culture had its highest point. My homeregion is fillled with hundreds of castle ruins. But few had been large castles of Imperial Crownland (Up to 1253) or mighty families of high Nobility. Most had been small, and very small castles of Knights and socalled Noble Free ( Edelfreie) families. Most had been stone made, but some had been still wood/ earth buildings, or just lightly fortified manour Houses. Those ones, between Neckar River and northern end of Swabian Alb Plateau used small hills and the ditches of very small rivers ( Bäche) as natural fortifications, but at the clifflike northern end of Swabian Alb Plateau many, mostly small ruins are at places on rocks or ,Cliff corners', where an assault was nearly Impossible.
@@deniseroe5891 there’d probably be a lot more indigenous buildings and history left if our ancestors hadn’t destroyed it all. My ancestors were mayflower era people too. My heart is with all the destroyed history and people that can never be recovered.
I would love to take a castle tour throughout Europe. It's high up on the bucket list.
I did it in Serbia. Absolutely amazing. France next year hopefully
@@bv3710 Hope you get there. With all the crap going on in this country I've contemplated moving and have considered France, Italy, Switzerland, and Ireland as hopefuls. May God be willing.
I miss Conwy. My family used to holiday at Llandudno all the time before we moved to Australia. Conwy castle is beautiful
Tis indeed. Come to Docklands in Melbourne. Almost as much stone and concrete though...
@@IanSinclair77 🤣🤣🤣 yeah I don’t get Docklands at all. Went to Artvo last year and the whole place felt so dead. It was sad.
And the Great Orme :-)
part of me wishes we would restore these castles back to how they would've looked back in the day,the other part of me knows its best to keep it the way it is
i think they should choose the best preserved and fix em up. 1 in wales, 1 in scotland and 1 in england. Some are pretty well preserved like warwick.
Yeah then they should 'restore' the pyramids to their former glory. Geez. Gimme strength @@benfleming6936
We do it to all other buildings so I wonder why not castles
Several years ago, there was this dragon statue thing doing a tour of Welsh castles to celebrate all things Welsh. I remember thinking to myself how ironic that they're having events to celebrate Wales taking place in the castles built to oppress it.
Being born (and living in) north Wales is fantastic if you love medieval history, though. Spent most of my childhood summers playing footie in Rhuddlan castle's moat!
Built to oppress them...but, the oppressor's long gone while they celebrate their long history and existence. Sounds like a win to me.
Anywhere near Hawarden where my granddad used to live?
@@FSboy70the 'oppressors' still have a prince of Wales
Anyone interested in welsh history of this time needs to read Sharon Penman's Welsh Trilogy. Starts with Llewyllyn and King John's many issues in Here be Dragons and ends with Edward's final blow and Llewyllyn ap Gryffudd's death. Amazing epic and sad story. And pretty historically accurate unlike most historical fiction these days.
I'll check it out, I live in the Ozarks but my ancestors were Welsh.
'Llewelyn'
Wow what a fantastic piece of History.. Magnificent Craftsmanship
Been twice, the quality of the images and information is worth watching ( visiting ) it again, very beautiful tourist destination
Finally they show us some inside shots of a castle.
Love watching documentaries about castles 🏰
I love those old castles.
I've been a stone masons assistant for 10 years and I can't believe how they built something like that 800+ years ago 🤔
The most extensive and expensive castle building program ever undertaken in Europe, which almost bankrupt the crown coffers. All to subdue a tiny nation of hill tribes. The fact that the native Cymry are still here at all is a miracle of resilience and stubborn resistance against all odds. A narrative sadly ignored by the mainstream historical accounts.
Is this serious information, if so wow that's crazy he almost bankrupt his own kingdom.
It’s true.
Respectfully, if you were the King of England and had enemies on your western & northern borders, what would you do. Edward 1st sought to create a single nation, but one under his rule of course. Indeed, it is the unification of England under Althlestan into a single kingdom as compared to the fragmented, feudal & often inter-waring societies in Scotland, Wales & Ireland, that was a significant factor why England emerged to be economically & militarily dominant. Sorry, but that's just historic fact. 👍
@@xyzsimo7017 Again respectfully, it was the Norman yoke that unified England and resulted in all legal and political administration being held in French for hundreds of years. This happened in the blink of an eye following 1066. However the subjugation of the Cymry took almost 250 years and was a much more protracted and expensive affair. There is the usual Anglo centric narrative, but also another narrative that is usually ignored by mainstream historians. The fact is, that despite the might of Rome, the Angle Saxon Jute Flemish and countless other mercenary hordes, the Vikings, Norman English and eventually the English, the native Cymry are still here.
@@andrewwhelan7311
The Anglo-Saxons had a completely different battle traditon to the Welsh. It was Anglo-Saxon tradition to have battles where all cards are put down on the table and its a bloody battle to the last man standing, hence why powerhouses switched regions fastly and entire noble families got wiped out and replaced so often. Even when the Vikings invaded England, there were times when Vikings (contrary to their Hollywood mythology) would hide behind forts, refuse to come out and the Anglo-Saxon army would have to go home in disappointment. That's why the Normans took power in the "blink of an eye" as you put it, when Harold fell, the Anglo-Saxons should have legged it there and then but they all fought to the last. Whereas the Welsh fought more of a continental style of warfare, hit and run tactics.
Also, the English identity triumphed over the entire Isles of Britain. You all speak our language, we don't speak yours and it's our langauge that's spread to every corner of the planet.
It’s a stunning place!
I used to live within the Conwy walls and we used to sneak in the castle at night./.very spooky!
McGoohan as longshanks in braveheart is cinema gold
That's a stunning piece of ancient architecture.
Wrong Llywelyn. Llywelyn Fawr (the Great)died in 1240. It was his grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffydd who was recognised in the Treaty of Montgomery. Also the Welsh for court is llys not Clys. Deganwy Castle was demolished by Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in 1263 to prevent it being used by the English.
I could not suppress a grin when I noticed that Google, under your fine contribution, placed a link to "Translate to English". This is how some intelligence is artificial.
A great and fascinating castle.
A fascinating insight into the man that was Edward i and his quest for aggressive expansion!
The tower of London is older than Conway castle and that is beautifully maintained with the money it gets from tourism. There is no excuse for not maintaining and restoring these beautiful old buildings.
Some of them are for sale, just buy one and maintain it - easy!
Oh yeah cause as if theyre not 'grade one listed buildings' Restoration is for morons..i dont want to visit a new build castle. If i did id visit Germany @@kr3586
That’s hardly a fair comparison! The Tower of London has been in use since the 11th century, with additions and modifications in over the centuries. Being an important royal and government centre ensured that.
Conwy and most other castles fell out of use over time, mostly when castles stopped being of practical use militarily. Keeping those castles in good nick when they aren’t required would be ridiculously and ruinously expensive: big structures like that need vast amounts of money, why would people spend such sums on something not needed?
There is no excuse for your uneducated, ludicrous comment. Ti’n DWP!🏴
It's often claimed that ' _Ireland was England's first colony_ ' but yet , the walled, castellated ,English- plantation towns of Conwy ,Caernarfon, Aberystwyth etc would strongly suggest otherwise.
Colony? The mass colonisation of Wales occurred in the 1800s. The forced development of the term “Welsh” prove this fact.
@@WalesTheTrueBritons Incorrect I'm afraid.The term Welsh and Wales were not from the 1800's but much earlier - from the 6th century - a term that ironically the invading Anglo Saxons used for the resident native Britons: _Wēalasc_ - meaning foreigner ,this word eventually became 'Welsh'. The 'mass colonisation ' of Wales in the 1800's was one that was inadvertent - a movement of people looking for work , whereas the purposely placed English colonists in the walled medieval towns of Wales was done with intent - to , dominate and to Anglicize.
To colonise.
No, I said the forced development! Meaning the adoption of the name on masse, this very much occurred in the 1800s with the banning of their language. In doing so, within two or three generations the Britons of the Cymru became “Welsh”. And the foreign Anglo became British!
@@WalesTheTrueBritons Adoption of the name Welsh on masse in the 1800's ? Um ....nope.There's reference to the Cymry as the 'Welsh' centuries before the 1800's.
As for the banning of the language,there wasn't a comprehensive policy by the British government to do so , schools in Wales used the 'Welsh Not' or 'Welsh stick' on a random basis - there was no blanket policy. The decline of the Welsh language sits firmly within Welsh-speaking families -those who decided not to pass it on to the next generation. The poet - playwright Dylan Thomas is a typical example: both Dylan's parents were Welsh speaking - but decided (as was fashionable at the time) _only_ to speak English. They went the extra mile though by sending him to elocution lessons - not only was his native language denied - but also his accent.
As for the 'Anglo became the British ' ; this occurred earlier with the unification of the Scottish and English crowns in 1707 - though there are other even earlier references of England using the term _Britain_ .
@@cymro6537the vast majority of the population of England was unchanged after the Norman invasion as genetic research has shown. Only the nobility changed. The ppl of England are the same ppl they always were. Even the Anglo saxons only basically replaced the nobility. The true non Britons are the aristocracy
Conwy,my most favourite town in Wales
I love north Wales absolutely beautiful ❤
@@johnmorgan8868Ddiolch!😊🏴
Allot thanks (History Hit) channel for sharing this historical valued 👍🏻 video with clearly explaining political circumstances, which led to Iron Castle 🏰 building
Rest in peace Father. 🪖🇺🇲
9:35 very interesting segment of the program, thank you.
I first visited Conway castle as a boy in the 1960's. It has not changed at all and you would think with all the money they have taken over the years for admission some restoration work would have gone on at least to the Great Hall.
If it hasn't changed since the 60s they seem to be doing a pretty good job of preserving the castle in it's current state. Restoration is probably not their goal.
@@tjp353 Preservation is the first priority. Followed by restoration when the money allows it.
@@grahamthebaronhesketh. What level of restoration do you mean?
@@tjp353 Ultimately total restoration. But just the Great hall for now.
@@grahamthebaronhesketh. That's not going to happen. It'll just end up being a modern recreation of an ancient castle, on the site of an ancient castle. You might as well just build a new one, like Guedelon in France. Conwy Castle is historically valuable as an ancient monument because it hasn't been 'restored' into a modern interpretation of what it may have once looked like.
The added sound effects when he mentions the Great Hall and the area where the blacksmith would have been reminds me of the episode of Cunk on Earth where Philomena explains what might have happened in the ancient castle that she was stood in.
I go literally right past this on my regular shopping route. Croeso I Gymru.😊🏴
Living in N Wales.. we joke that our kids will think most places you go in the world will have a 13C massive Castle 😂
Built by the English
That was excellent, thank you!
I appreciate all the videos, i got the flu again and it's nice to have things to watch :) all your channels help!!!
One of the most interesting Kings of England.
Absolutely stunning and impressive ❤
I love Conway Castle.
Edward 1st probably the most fearsome king to ever rule
These monuments of English dominance, and indeed fear of the Welsh, remind me of the great Crusader castles of the 'Holy' land. Fear builds walls, power, greed and fear build them bigger. These great walled symbols are crumbling monoliths, but the deep mistrust of the oppressed stands firm. 'Hearts and minds' can't be won over with castles. All patriotic Celts and Muslims know it.
There's much in what some comments will be saying, that these huge walls are very sinister remnants of terrible repression, suppression and ultimately destruction of a culture.. And yet we do need to be reminded of these things.. Nice one team! ⭐👍
Alright Highlander!
loving the implications that the welsh nobility didnt treat their subject like shit, just those nasty english. the welsh castles that the evil english tore down were built with rainbows and butterflies, not the blood and toil of the peasantry. yes, only the devilish english were awful oppressors, and it wasnt commonplace across across all cultures and nationalities of the known world at the time, not at all.
unironically painting modern nationalistic ideas over medieval history is pointless and divisive
@@NonEventHorizon Me I'm a Sassenach I'm afraid, from E. Yorkshire, but it's always been shameful to my family, some of the behaviour of the English towards neibouring nations, now what we have is the cultural price to pay. A so called English barn dance, f'rinstance, cannot subsist wi'out a guid ladel or twa o' Scottish jigs, reels, hornpipes, Strathspeys and so on; English intervention has destroyed much of Welsh folk music. English people have to understand the negative aspects of dominance or attempted suppression. Sorry for the word salad, but ye got me goin' there.. 🤣👍
Fascinating place as all the Welsh castles in his aggressive expansion are.
They are not Welsh castles. They are English castles used for occupation purposes.
excellent video
Historians often time say that this ring of Iron stopped the Welsh from rising against the English but there were rebellions and revolts even in the 14th century... granted, none of which were that significant until Owain Glyndwrs uprising. It wasn't until Henry VII became king that Welsh rebellions and riots stopped.
Additionally, If Owain Lawgoch wasn't assassinated by the English it is very likely that we would have had a significant war in the 14th century.
And would have got slaughtered. Its well known fact that the Welsh never engaged in a single large scale battle. They only ever did a few skirmishes then ran back into the hills. And I'm in the north west of England with a family almost entirely Welsh so I've no dog in this fight. The 'celtic' thing is also bogus. There is no documented evidence that the Irish or British were in any way celtic until an oxbridge author invented it in the 1800s
What an imposing structure
Really good
Hey Matthew. Love your 👍
9:13 that horse looks like the part in Shrek 2 where Donkey gets turned into a horse 😆
When you think of the craftsmen that built them they must be rolling in their graves to see them now 😢
I think theyd be full of pride that even that much is standing. Look around you at any new construction and try to picture ANYTHING built in the last 100 years still even having 1 wall standing in a thosand years.
They were state of the art defences at that time. All that changed with the invention of canon.
Yeah cause they expected them to look like new builds 1000 years later. The Egyptian builders must me likewise as pissed off. One day an architect will solve the problem of time and decay, and we'll all live happily ever after
When conwy Castle was under seige , Edward his troops from Ireland, they sailed a short distance over the Irish Sea, right up to the castle , and broke the seige
Would be great, if they got a plan from a castle ruin, and try to rebuild it fully on another location… maybe near the original ruin. So we could see what it was like after it was built, and how it was built
No, it would be utterly cringe. It would turn genuine history into orlando
Not to mention it would an absolute fortune that I doubt we'd like to pay for out of our taxes
"Prince" in Welsh "Tywysog" means Ruler,After the English took over Wales.The English king took the title and gave it to their first born as a final kick to the welsh.
Rephrase that please, after the English KING. Who was less english and more French. Please bare in mind that English ppl were also "kicked". William the conqueror started by booting all english landowners off their land, marrying off their daughters to his friends whod helped him invade. This was around 100 years later. Not a long time really. They were as alien to the Welsh as they were to he english.
@christinegreen6736 So u don't class any English king with Norman blood as a true English king??? I mean what is English anyways? A mix of many people from Europe. Mainly Germany,Scandinavia and the Rhinelands. The original Britons were the Celts Picts and Cornish
It's a bit silly taking umbrage at this post considering the current RF being built on German foundations. Very string, deep German foundations.
The only true "English" kings were not English at all. They were the ancient Britons. Pre- Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Danes, Jutes, Norse, and Norman.
Well, we was true to his word and provided them with a prince that didn't speak a word of English, so you can't call the man a liar.
@@christinegreen6736blame the pope for that..and the Norman invasion was basically a European crusade
Hi guys, wonderful documentary. I am trying to access the link to the special discount for History Hit, but for some reason is not working.
Hey Jose, please contact our support team at www.historyhit.com/contact/ - they will be able to assist you very quickly!
Those Normans and their Castles
£11mn in today's money? What a bargain, that wouldn't even get you off the drawing board these days.
The Senedd will happily spunk that away just on tea and biscuits.
Same way he get Beaumaris wrong
Yeah, I'll take 2.
Recently stayed outside the city walls of conmy Castle on holiday and hands down is one of the most beautiful and well kept castles ever. So glad there's a video on this amazing place.
The seagulls love Conwy too....for the Castle towers and the tourists' ice creams. The walls are closed at the moment ( jul 2024) hopefully for restoration.
I wonder how stone masons protected their eyes before safety glasses. Guess they were just rolling the dice every time
Did you know there are 2 castles on angelsea , the other one is even older than Beaumaris! Mot and Bailey not far away from Beaumaris
Why does he say "Conway" when it's "Conwy"? Genuine question, since he clearly knows Welsh pronunciation with the other placenames.
He seems to be interchanging throughout the video between the English and Welsh pronunciation. 🤷🏻♂️
He doesn’t do that good a job with the Welsh pronunciations: the gets Caernarfon wrong, and really does poorly with Rhuddlan.
I am surprised they didn't use concrete. Surely gravel and sand are easier to handle than heavy blocks of stone. I am sure they can make quick lime with ashes. Concrete shouldn't be new by this point... Romans used it 1000 year prior and the Romans were on the British isles.
Please forgive my Yankee ignorance, but I am aware that in some circles there is Anti-English sentiment in Scotland (I'll set Ireland aside for this discussion), with Edward even being referred to as the Hammer of the Scots. Question: given Edward's powerful and aggressive stance in Wales, are there similar Anti-English (or resentment, however you want to call it) sentiments among some of the Welsh?
Not so much ; this due in a large part to the fact that the Welsh are generally unaware of their own history of centuries of resistance to English domination.
One of these outcomes is the English bestowed title 'Prince of Wales' . The Welsh people wil proudly wave their banners - on any Royal visitation of the 'Prince of Wales' to their country.
Blissfully unaware that they're the only people in the world that celebrate their own conquest 😂
@@cymro6537 Do you not think it's any less ironic than the English waving banners for the descendants of the folks who conquered them in 1066?
@@Siddingsby Less ironic,? Not really .The very language that I type is an amalgamation of a Dark age,northern German dialect that has fused with medieval French - _English_ . The melding of the Anglo Saxon and Norman French was well established with the Welsh conquest of 1283. Linguistically, the English aren't the same people as the Anglo Saxons.
The Welsh language in comparative terms has changed far less.
Modern Wales has a fair amount of cultural autonomy, if you visit you will see Welsh on signs and hear it spoken. Which is impressive since it was suppressed for a time and very, very different from the dominant language, English
@@scottabc72 That's quite correct.What _isn't_ mentioned however is how those bilingual signs came about - despite petitions and demand,successive governments in London wouldn't allow them -they wanted the English only signs, consequently, many occurrences of civil disobedience took place - the signs were daubed or damaged with many of those involved being incarcerated.The campaign however continued unabated - only then did London agree to the bilingual signs.
Fifteen thousand pounds for a castle and city walls?? even at Eleven million in todays money that's a bloody bargain
Well that was in the days before 'homes under the Hammer' (or was it?). At any rate I'll take two please.
It sounds like a basic inflation index has been used, which wouldn’t give a fair comparison for such a big project. As this was a major financial outlay for the English state, if you compare that £15,000 with the size of the UK economy today, it comes out with a figure of about £9 billion in 2023 terms.
Historical comparisons like this are very difficult though, especially over such a long time
I climbed every tower there!
And absolutely fascinating, every one of them. A great day out for a tourist.
Whoever made this documentary confused Llewelyn the Great, Llywelyn Ab Iorwerth, with Llywelyn Ap Gruffudd, known as Llywelyn the Last. It was Llywelyn Ap Gruffudd who was recognised as Prince of Wales in the Treaty of Montgomery. Llywelyn Ab Iorwerth was appeased by the English Barons in Magna Carta. He's literally mentioned more than anyone else in Magna Carta. Call yourselves Historians 🙄 I was considering subscribing to History Hits, but there's no chance of that now. Show proper respect to Welsh history!
3:47 the image has text saying ‘Welsh glys (palace)’. Is this a typo, should it be ‘llys’ rather than ‘glys’?
🏴
This channel loves a good laugh at the expense of the Britons. The fact of the matter is this…they failed, The British are still here, they outlasted the Romans, Anglo, and Norman, and they’ll outlast the next group of Johnny come lately’s.
i love castles i want to be a castle when i grow up
My name is William Conway and I am the last living Moore in King Edward’s lineage and the rightful heir to the castle of Wales. Just wanted to let you know that I know
Imagine being at church and you hear the king farting through his little viewing port. Really weird to be honest.
Iron Throne
i often wonder - if it wouldnt be better - to create some sort of small business inside these old sites. so you don't just look at it - you interact with it.
Walking round them IS interacting with it. I'd recommend Orlando for you instead. You'd get more out of it
Edward the 1st was also known as _The Hammer of the Scotts._ William Wallace? Braveheart? Yeah, that guy.
Mel Gibson was real? Nah I'm not having that.
This was Edward "The Longshanks"?
Rumours has it edward I. was an exceptional chess player, he swapped all his pieces with rooks, though.😂
Well I'd trade all my minor pieces for rooks as well, as would any + 2000 elo player.
I live in conwy, and if ur born inside the walls , your known as a “jackdaw”
Never sure about the financial comparison, supposedly £15000 then or £11,000,000 today. Today £11,000,000 would get you two roundabouts, so how is it a castle was built and an entire town walled?
I’m not sure they had safety vest back in those days lol
They did but they only used them when the health and safety ppl came round, which they were tipped off by a man who was deep undercover at the time. FACT.
I’m the only one to use this types of video to go sleep ?
I am a descendant of the King of Wales Gruffydd ap Llywelyn
All of these castles will likely continue to crumble. In the name of not touching historical monuments. When in reality they need maintenance.
They get maintained, by Cadw
16:30 Wouldn't most of the stones be covered in plaster though?
Midvale stone masons didn't have protective eyeglasses how did they protect their eyes from shrapnel?
I can't believe you didn't even show off Britain's Smallest House 😲
The presenter kinda looks like Damian Lewis O_o
parts of my family came to America from wales in the mid 1600's i wonder if there is any correlation between what i've seen in this video and part of my dads side of the family. regardless, working with stone is cool, i was honestly surprised when you guys cut that stone as fast as you did, i figured it wouldve taken much longer to shape a stone. cool stuff
Calling dibs on it for when the zombie outbreak arrives.
Think about the same tctic now a days
MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNSSSAAAHH!!!!!!!
If you know, you know! ;-P
❤❤
ฉันสงสัย เกาะอังกฤษมีความเป็นหินทั้งหมดหรือ จึงมีหินมากมายใช้สร้างปราสาท บ้าน ถนน ในประเทศไทยของฉันมีแต่ดินสีดำ🤔
Damn Norman’s I wish the welsh would have held on to their power
Weird ending
It's Con-we NOT Conway...
Cymru am Byth 🏴
Why is a british history show, with a british host, telling us the conway castle has a mile long wall? Get your units right
Maybe because we use miles in uk unlike rest of Europe that use km
@kmay4963 your road signs are miles but your speed limits are kph....because that makes sense
@@uahoe speed limits are in miles per hour and signs in miles.
Because we still use miles on our roads and in everyday language.
Fortified stone and brick walled fortifications and castles were great defenses until they weren’t. The advent of gunpowder, canons, and firearms ended the age of castle building. It also spelled the doom of Constantinople unfortunately. It took centuries for tactics to catch up to the effectiveness of canons and firearms. Rows of troops standing up in open fields firing at each other all the way into the mid 19th century. 🙄. It wasn’t until WWI that generals decided that was pretty stupid.
I do wish the presenter would have spent five minutes researching how to say the different castle names around Wales: the F in Caernarfon is said like the English letter V, not an F, and Rhuddlan is butchered.
And I say that as an Englishman!
Grunden til at tårnet ligger der, er for at kontrollere en handelsrute
Det ligger midt imellem Helsingør og Roskilde og ved mølleåens udspring, det har været et vigtigt knudepunkt som har krævet beskyttelse tror jeg
What are genius idea to pick Stones up maybe that's how the pyramids were built
💞💞💞
"Turbulent and blood soaked" could apply to many centuries of British history.