Fortifying Wales

When you think of a castle, what comes to mind? A romantic château in the Loire? A whimsical schloss in Bavaria? Our very own Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world? Perhaps few of us would think to look over the Severn to Wales, but we certainly should. For the land of rugby and sheep and leeks and unpronounceable place names is the castle capital of the world, with more per square mile than anywhere else. Of the 600 castles that once stood, around 100 are still in existence, either as restored structures or ruins, and just under half of those are under the auspices of Cadw, the Welsh government’s historic environment service.

This is a huge number for a tiny country. It is even more startling if we’re specific about our definition of a castle: a medieval, private fortification of a noble or lord. Paul Martin Remfry, in , describes how they were a departure from what had preceded them and a very far cry from the palatial country houses that appeared after this