Caerphilly famous for its Cheese, Leaning Tower, & Castle the largest medieval fortresses in Wales.
Built in 1268 by the Anglo-Norman marcher lord, Gilbert de Clare.
Concentrically planned, walls within walls, the rings of stone and water defences are formidable even today. The Castle famous for its 'leaning tower' the tower that out-leans the Tower of Pisa.
The 4th Marquess of Bute is sculpted by John Merrill in 2013. The Marquess is displayed supporting Caerphilly's famous leaning tower. His wealth & tenacity saved the castle from ruin, for the People of Wales.
When you visit, try this test, stand with your back to the Tower, and push your heels against the base of the tower. The tower leans so much that that you will fall over.
"In the late eighteenth Century the Marquess of Bute acquired Caerphilly Castle. His descendants would oversee its 'great rebuilding'. Restoration of the Castle began in the late nineteenth Century, under the direction of the immensely wealthy third Marquess of Bute. This work continued throughout the last century under the fourth Marquess and later the State. The result of this extensive and painstaking work is the Castle you see today." Text Source: (
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"Caerphilly Castle is one of the great medieval castles of western Europe. Several factors give it this pre-eminence - its immense size making it the largest in Britain after Windsor, its large-scale use of water for defence and the fact that it is the first truly concentric castle in Britain. Of the time of its building in the late 13th century, it was a revolutionary masterpiece of military planning
One of Henry III's most powerful and ambitious barons, Gilbert de Clare, lord of Glamorgan, built this castle. His purpose was to secure the area and prevent lowland south Wales from falling into the hands of the Welsh leader Llywelyn the Last, who controlled most of mid and north Wales. De Clare built other castles on the northern fringes of his territory for the same purpose, such as Castell Coch. He had seized the upland district of Senghenydd, in which Caerphilly lies, from the Welsh in 1266 to act as a buffer against Llywelyn's southward ambitions. Llywelyn realised the threat and tried but failed to prevent the castle from being built; it was begun on 11 April 1268, was attacked by Llywelyn in 1270, and was begun again in 1271. This time it was completed without hindrance. Its message was not lost on Llywelyn, who retreated northwards. Apart from the remodelling of the great hall and other domestic works in 1322-6 for Hugh le Despenser, no more alterations were carried out, making it a very pure example of late 13th-century military architecture." Text Source: (
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"Wales' largest castle has had its fair share of strife and wear and tear over the centuries but it is now being rebuilt - thanks to CGI technology.
You can watch Caerphilly Castle as it would have looked in the early 14th Century, when it stood up to an attack by 10,000 Welsh rebels.
Historic monuments body Cadw is using the latest video technology to show the castle being reconstructed.
It is the first in a series to re-imagine how historic sites once looked.
The video captures the "walls within walls" system of defence that was favoured by Gilbert de Clare, the Norman nobleman responsible for building the castle in 1268.
Sections of the old castle, now long gone, rise from the ground while the leaning south-east tower - thanks to the magic of computer graphics - straightens and returns to its former glory." Text Source: (
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