Rhuddlan Castle, North Wales

Rhuddlan is another example of Edward I’s castle building project in Wales.

On the 22nd of July 1277 Edward I’s was determined to force the surrender of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd.  The King headed for Chester and established a base at Flint where work started on the castle there.  He then moved on with 25 ships pushing along the coast.  At the end of August he moved his headquarter to Rhuddlan where a motte and bailey castle already existed. In November of 1277 Llywelyn ap Gruffydd formally submitted to the king.

Edward I set about a complete rebuilding project at Rhuddlan in 1277 and in 5 years the castle had been completed.

It was at Rhuddlan that the Welsh were further suppressed when the king signed the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, setting up the government of Wales under his rule, this lasted until the Act of Union in 1536.