Reblogged from Medieval Wanderings:

In the Epilogue of my Welsh Quest, I mentioned that we might find another couple of castles to visit during the rest of our stay in North Wales. And believe it or not, we did. But these bonus finds weren’t built by Edward 1st, they were the power projects of the native Welsh princes long before the warrior English king pitched up to claim them.

When I flew from Caernarfon down to Harlech to photograph the castles from the air, we also passed this little gem. I looked down to see Criccieth Castle sitting pretty atop a rocky promontory on the north-eastern corner of Cardigan Bay. So I couldn’t resist taking a few snaps of this modest, yet commanding fortress. And when we visited it on the ground I discovered it was not only built by a Welsh prince, it was also destroyed by one, while its reputation for fine hospitality moved a Welsh poet to immortalise it in verse.

The castle perched on it’s high hill by the sea

Continue reading at Medieval Wanderings