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

Gavin (9 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 (11 months ago)
We used it to reach castle from parking ?️ views are nice and little sport is always good for health :))

Paul Owens (13 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 R. Van Wallendael

Historic Site of the week

St. Martin Rotunda

The Chapel of St. Martin is the only completely preserved Romanesque building in Vyšehrad and one of the oldest in Prague. In was built around 1100 in the eastern part of the fortified outer ward. Between 1100 and 1300, the Rotrunda was surrounded by a cemetery. The building survived the Hussite Wars and was used as the municipal prison of the Town of the Vyšehrad Hill.

During the Thirty Years’ War, it was used as gunpowder storage, from 1700 to 1750, it was renovated and reconsecrated. In 1784, the chapel was closed passed to the military management which kept using it as a warehouseand a cannon-amunition manufacturing facility. In 1841, it was meant to be demolished to give way to the construction of a new road through Vyšehrad. Eventually, only the original western entrance was walled up and replaced with a new one in the sountren side. The dilapidating Rotunda subsequently served as a shelter for the poor.

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

St. Martin Rotunda