We drove though the small town of Rhuddlan, Denbighshire and down a side street until the awesome sight of Rhuddlan Castle came into view. It was resting on a small mound and our eyes were drawn to the impressive large round towers.

This castle site has a very long history first appearing in records in the last years of the eighth century. But it was during the reign of King Edward I in the late thirteenth century that this massive twin-towered gatehouse was built. It was part of his "iron-ring" of castles and had the concentric design of sophisticated military architecture. This castle was not directly on the seacoast like most of King Edward's castles. To resolve this the castle builders canalized the River Clwyd for some three miles to the sea. This project took three years to complete and was an impressive engineering achievement.

Rhuddlan Castle was attacked and successfully defended during a major Welsh uprising in 1282 and during the Glyndwr rising of 1400. However, it fell into Parliamentarian hands in 1646. A couple years later it was partially destroyed to prevent its further use.

The guardianship of the castle passed to the Government in 1948 and restoration began. We freely explored the grounds and the dry moat during our visit.