Protected: Cotswolds & Wales Road Trip: Oxford by Bike
Protected: Cotswolds & Wales Road Trip: Broadway
Cotswolds & Wales Road Trip: Chipping Campden
The Cotswolds towns owe their picturesque and well-preserved quality to sheep. Until the introduction of cotton into markets, wool and linen were the primary textiles for clothing for most people. And in the middle ages, the best wool came from England, and the best wool in England came from the Cotswolds due to the fine quality produced by the specific variety of sheep unique to the region. “Even the name Cotswolds is thought to be derived from sheep. “Cots” means sheep enclosure and “wolds” are the gentle hills.” (From here.)
The premium price for Cotswolds wool was such that merchants in the region’s towns could afford moderate to grand houses made of the local, honey-colored limestone. And fund “wool churches” that were more substantial and ornate than churches in similar-sized towns elsewhere in the country.
But then, starting in the 1600s, cotton from colonies established by the British, Dutch, and French East India Companies became more practical and more fashionable than wool, and the wealth of the Cotswolds towns declined precipitously. As a result, the towns lost their wealth and became backwaters and this backwater status preserved the honey limestone houses, manors, town halls, and churches that may otherwise have been changed or built over to fit new architectural styles or building methods over the subsequent several centuries.
As tourism became a thing in the 19th century, the bucolic Cotswolds countryside and its preserved and picturesque towns became popular destinations, and the region gradually developed an economy based on tourism and experienced a rebirth (culminating, of course, in the visit by WolfeStreetTravel). The wealth is back, but it’s just not from wool anymore.
On our first full day in the Cotswolds, we drove about 10 min from Broadway to Chipping Campden, where characteristic Cotswolds charm was exemplified in fine fashion. Considered the “jewel in the crown of the Cotswolds” (no doubt only by the Chipping Campden Chamber of Commerce), the town has served as a wool market since the 15th century, and is famous for its High Street.
Center of town on High Street:
The town’s still-operating, 1627 Market Hall commissioned by Sir Baptist Hicks, who will continue to pop up as we poked about town.
In the Market Hall, you can buy your sheep and sheep accessories from the Cotswolds version of Hank Hill.
Scenes around town:
What’s behind the hedge:
Bulls eye window on one of the houses.
“In mediaeval times the way window glass was made was similar to blowing. A blob of molten glass was picked up on a pontil, and spun rapidly to form a disk. The flatter, outer, bits of glass were used for fine windows, the bit in the middle would be remelted for the next try. Sometimes the bit in the middle was not remelted, but sold off cheap for low status buildings. These often went into front doors, to admit light, but not give a clear view into the house.” (From here.)
The town’s wool church, the Church of St. James:
Built in the 16th century, but incorporating the elements of a Norman church that dates from 1180:
The elaborate tomb of Sir Baptist Hicks – his second appearance – and his wife.
And “a memorial to Lady Penelope Noel who died of blood poisoning as a result of pricking her finger whilst sewing.” For reals.
The town’s almshouses just down the street from the church, built in 1612 by Sir Baptist Hicks (of course).
The town’s cool Eight Bells pub.
Back on High Street to head to the car and on to our next town:
Protected: Cotswolds & Wales Road Trip: Stanton
Protected: Cotswolds & Wales Road Trip: Barrow Hike and Stow-on-the-Wold
Protected: Cotswolds & Wales Road Trip: Snowshill
Protected: Cotswolds & Wales Road Trip: The Slaughters
Protected: Cotswolds & Wales Road Trip: Palé Hall
Cotswolds & Wales Road Trip: Harlech Castle
After the charm overload of Cotswolds villages – the priority for one half of WolfeStreetTravel – we finally pivoted Welsh castles – the priority for the other half, as noted in the trip overview post. After overnighting at Palé Hall on the Welsh / English frontier, we headed further west to visit our first castle: formidable Harlech.
An absolutely stupendous introduction to our Welsh castlepalooza. “UNESCO considers Harlech, with three others at Beaumaris, Conwy, Caernarfon, to be one of ‘the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe.’“ (Our next two castles to hit after Harlech were, indeed, Caernarfon and Conwy, so great news for us!)
There are freakin’ medieval castles (examples from previous travels here and here) and even Renaissance castles (examples here and here) all over Europe. Why are Welsh castles so special? Two primary reasons:
- They were built at the absolute apex of medieval castle building in the 13th century, immediately before the introduction of gunpowder, which led to the demise of medieval castle as an effective defensive tool
- They (generally) were not subject to the siege gun assaults or later, more modern bombing campaigns that damaged or destroyed many other European medieval castles
As a result, you can wander around Wales and experience the best preserved, most quintessentially “castle-y” castles in the world.
Most of the famous Welsh castles were all directed to be built by one man: Edward I. He may be known to the world as Longshanks or The Hammer of the Scots (a moniker he liked so much that it’s on his tomb in Westminster Abbey (“Scottorum malleus”)), but his real passion was to subjugate Wales. During his reign, he invaded Wales, ultimately conquering most of the region.
Harlech was one of four castles Edward I directed to be constructed in Snowdonia, in the north of Wales to create his “ring of stone” to consolidate English rule in the area and address the inevitable insurgencies that would follow the conquest.
Harlech was built under the supervision of James of Saint George, a military architect from Savoy (notable only because James also served as the military architect of Caernarfon and Conwy castles we’d see later.
“Harlech was established with a garrison of 36 men: a constable, 30 men, including 10 crossbowmen, a chaplain, a smith, carpenter and stonemason, and Master James was rewarded by being made the constable of Harlech from 1290 to 1293.“
Harlech was besieged five times over 500 years, trading hands along the way:
- English garrisons defensed against the native Welsh in the early 1300s
- The Welsh captured Harlech and they themselves were besieged by the English in the early 1400s
- A Lancastrian garrison defended Harlech against the Yorkists in the late 1400s during the War of the Roses
Master James’ now-classic concentric fortifications design, with fortified gatehouse serving as a castle-within-a-castle for layered defense:
A view north into Snowdonia (and our next destination) from the top of one of the gatehouse towers:
Harlech’s tiny town below the castle:
That’s it for Castle 1 of WolfeStreetTravel’s 2022 Welsh Castlepalooza. And Castle 2 lies less than an hour’s drive north. . .
Cotswolds & Wales Road Trip: Caernarfon Castle
Arguably the most important castle in Wales also is indisputably the most distinctive in style: Caernarfon Castle in the northwest corner of the country.
The Romans recognized the strategic value of the site a thousand years before the Normans, and constructed their own fort – Segontium, or Caer Segent, to the Welsh (caer is Welsh for fort or castle, for those who read about Caer Dallben and Caer Dathyl when they were kids). When Edward built the current castle in the 13th century, he allegedly found the body of Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus and reburied it in a new church built in his honor. (Magnus Maximus was, indeed, the Roman governor of Britain in the 4th century, and usurped Gratian to supplant him as emperor, but Magnus Maximus was executed in Gaul, so there’s little chance of Edward finding him on the northwest coast of the island.) Little is known of the history of the site during the 600 years between the Roman’s departure and the Norman’s arrival.
After the Normans got down to business, though, the place becomes very well documented. A marcher lord under William already was in place according to the Domesday survey in 1088, and his successor (the first one was killed by the Welsh) built the first Caernarfon Castle – a rudimentary motte and bailey fortification.
The Welsh reconquered the region (then, as today, Gwynedd) in 1115, and Llywelyn the Great (who we’d see a couple of days later in Conwy) and later Llywelyn ap Gruffudd both stayed in Caernarfon on occasion. Then Edward came along. . .
Hostilities between the English and the Welsh broke out again in 1282 and by 1283, Edward’s forces were surging through Gwynedd recapturing existing castles and building others. Including Harlech, Conwy, and Caernarfon.
The distinctive angular turrets (versus the rounded turrets of Harlech and, soon, Conwy), were designed by Edward I’s royal military engineer to evoke images of Constantinople to convey Edward’s vision of his rule extending from Britain and Gascony to now Wales, as an empire. Super distinctive from other Norman castles in Britain (less so from some of the angled Crusader castles of the same time period in the Levant).
Wales once again rebelled under Madog ap Llywelyn, Prince of Wales and the Welsh attacked and then took Caernarfon and Caernarfon Castle as one of their first acts, since the English based their administration of Gwynedd here.
The English quickly retook the town and refortified the castle. (Which, true to so many of our travels, was under renovation when we visited.)
The hollowed out hull of one of the towers (King’s Gate tower, we think), with a fireplace serving a middle floor still visible.
The Upper Ward.
In addition to its distinctive angled tower walls, Caernarfon Castle offers another notable element: the birthplace of the first English Prince of Wales and the site of investiture of the modern Princes of Wales. According to tradition Edward’s first-born son, Edward II, was born in the newly constructed Caernarfon Castle in 1284, and Edward proclaimed him in 1301 to be Prince of Wales, with control over the country and its income. Since then the title has traditionally been held by the eldest son of the monarch, including the dude who just this year became King of England.
The dais in the middle of the Upper Ward commemorates the spot of Charles’ investiture as Prince of Wales in 1969.
Inside the castle walls.
In the early 15th century, rebellion again broke out in Wales, and Caernarfon Castle was besieged, but held.
The rise of the Tudor dynasty in the late 15th century brought about an improved relationship between the English and the Welsh, and the reduced tensions – and resulting reduced need for fortified bases with armed garrisons in “occupied” Wales – led to Caernarfon Castle falling into disrepair.
The last time the castle witnessed warfare was in the 17th century, when Royalists held the castle (successfully) against Parliamentarians.
Peering over the walls and between two of the castle’s nine towers into the small, adjacent town of Caernarfon.
A street through one of the old gates into the walled town of Caernarfon. . .
sporting one of the better street names we’ve seen on our travels.
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