Denbigh Castle

Denbigh Castle
Part of Denbighshire
Denbigh, Wales
The remains of the three-towered main gateway.
Denbigh Castle
Coordinates	53°10′50″N 3°25′15″W / 53.1806°N 3.4207°W / 53.1806; -3.4207Coordinates: 53°10′50″N 3°25′15″W / 53.1806°N 3.4207°W / 53.1806; -3.4207
Type	Enclosure castle with gateway donjon.
Height	Up to 10 metres (33 ft)
Site information
Owner	Cadw
Controlled by	The Crown
Condition	Ruin
Site history
Built	First phase c.1282 Second phase c.1295
Built by	Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln
In use	Open to public
Materials	Limestone ashlar
Demolished	1647
Events	Welsh Wars 1277 Madog ap Llywelyn 1294 Glyndŵr Rising 1404 Wars of the Roses 1461–1468 English Civil War 1646
Listed Building – Grade I

Denbigh Castle (Welsh: Castell Dinbych) was a fortress built following the 13th-century conquest of Wales by Edward I.

The castle, which stands on a rocky promontory above the Welsh market town of Denbigh, Denbighshire, was built upon an earlier Welsh stronghold. It was defended by a unique triple-towered gateway.

A planned town (bastide) was laid out at the same time as the castle. The Anglo-Norman borough was an attempt by Edward I to pacify the Welsh.

Denbigh Castle, which was built during two phases, was based on designs attributed to Master James of St George. In the first period, commencing 1282, parts of the outer ward were constructed. These outer defences included the southern and western walls and the eastern towers. Later work on the inner ward began including parts of the curtain wall and the castle's main gatehouse. The borough's new town walls were also began during this period.

But in 1294 Denbigh was attacked and taken during the revolt of Madog ap Llywelyn halting the work on the incomplete town and castle. Following its recapture a year later, Henry de Lacy substantially revised the plans in the second phase of building work. This time the inner ward's curtain wall were refortified with thicker and higher walls.

The main gatehouse was heavily buttressed with a three octagonal towers and a drawbridge: two towers faced outwards and a third interior tower, (the Badnes Tower), inside the main gateway. This three-towered triangular gatehouse now created a heavily defended passageway that had murder-holes, portcullises in series, two wooden doors, and enfilading arrowslits. One gatehouse tower contained the porter's lodgings while the other served as the prison.