Conwy Town Walls, Conwy, United Kingdom

Conwy's town walls are a medieval defensive structure around the town of Conwy in Wales. The walls were constructed between 1283 and 1287 after the foundation of Conwy by Edward I, and were designed to form an integrated system of defence alongside Conwy Castle. The walls are 1.3 km long and include 21 towers and three gatehouses. The project was completed using large quantities of labourers brought in from England; the cost of building the castle and walls together came to around £15,000, a huge sum for the period.

The walls were slightly damaged during the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr in 1401, but political changes in the 16th century reduced the need to maintain such defences around the town. The fortifications were treated sympathetically during the development of the road and railway systems in Conwy during the 19th century and survived largely intact into the modern period.

Today the walls form part of the UNESCO world heritage site administered by Cadw. Historians Oliver Creighton and Robert Higham describe the defences as 'one of the most impressive walled circuits' in Europe.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

hayley Easthope (3 months ago)
If visiting the castle take a walk along the town walls with amazing views.

Gavin (7 months ago)
One of the best town wall walk we have done. The signs around town show you where the entrances are, behind the train station, far end of town etc. The views of town, castle and county side are fabulous especially as the walk is free.

Julia Helland (9 months ago)
We used it to reach castle from parking ?️ views are nice and little sport is always good for health :))

Paul Owens (11 months ago)
What a fantastic town Conwy is. It is well worth making the effort to walk the length of the wall which gives you a brilliant view of the town and surrounding countryside. Although it isn't a long walk it is quite challenging in places but don't let this put you off.

Oliver Henderson (2 years ago)
Short walk up and along the town walls, well worth taking a short detour for, especially as it's not something you can do at every castle.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright radoslaw.maciejewski

Historic Site of the week

Ogrodzieniec Castle Ruins

Ogrodzieniec Castle is a ruined medieval castle originally built in the 14th–15th century by the W³odkowie Sulimczycy family. Established in the early 12th century, during the reign of Boles³aw III Wrymouth, the first stronghold was razed by the Tatars in 1241. In the mid-14th century a new gothic castle was built here to accommodate the Sulimczycy family. Surrounded by three high rocks, the castle was well integrated into the area. The defensive walls were built to close the circuit formed by the rocks, and a narrow opening between two of the rocks served as an entrance.

In 1470 the castle and lands were bought by the wealthy Cracovian townsmen, Ibram and Piotr Salomon. Then, Ogrodzieniec became the property of Jan Feliks Rzeszowski, the rector of Przemy¶l and the canon of Cracow. The owners of the castle about that time were also Jan and Andrzej Rzeszowskis, and later Pilecki and Che³miñski families. In 1523 the castle was bought by Jan Boner.

Conwy Town Walls

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Ogrodzieniec Castle Ruins