The Lost Fort
My Travel and History Blog, Focussing mostly on Roman and Mediaeval Times
The Romans Got There As Well
And what they built must have been as impressive as the castles, about 2000 years ago. The problem is that for one, more time has passed since they left what they called Britannia in 410 AD, then their finely chiselled stones were often reused (some even in the castles) and today some of their remains are found under houses that can't just be torn down to excavate more Roman foundations.
Hypocaust heating of the fort bath, found in a cellar in Chester
But enough remains to get a feeling for the former splendour. Like the
baths in Caerleon which would put some modern leisure centres to shame.
Main bassin in the Caerleon baths, 42 metres in length
Or the
arena in Caerleon, which albeit overgrown with grass still displays the wide diameter of the original structure, though not its height.
Roman arena in Caerleon
Caerleon was a legionary fort, not an auxiliary fortress like the ones at the Hadrian's Wall and the German
limes, and thus everything comes a bit larger. After all, a legion consisted of abut 5,000 men - not counting the slaves - and even if some of them were dispatched elsewhere most of the time, Caerleon was constructed to house the whole lot.
Barrack row at Caerleon fort
The Romans not only built two legionary forts at Caerleon and Chester (Deva) and littered Wales with auxuliary fortresses (one - Segontium - can be found in Caernarfon), they also built a town at Caerwent.
Flowers on the Roman east wall of Caerwent
What the Roman places had in common with the Norman castles were big walls. Makes you wonder why. *grin*
Castles in Wales
I'm back. With lots of pics. Two rainy afternoons in two weeks wasn't bad at all, particularly not for Wales. Except for a fresh wind blowing from the sea sometimes, it was not cold, either. The only problem was the often hazy atmosphere which made it difficult to get decent photos of the landscape. But I got plenty of the castles.
Chepstow Castle, outer curtain wall
I managed to meet with Lady D from
Lady Despenser's Scribery and James Oswald from
Sir Benfro. It's nice to meet people you know from the internet in real. With Lady D I invaded
Chepstow Castle, and with James I took a stroll through
Aberystwyth, discussing ghosts and magic in novels. I failed to see a real ghost in any of the castles, though.
Chepstow Castle, sea gate
Welsh public transport does get you places - except on Bank Holidays - though sometimes it's a bit complicated, like from Caernarfon to Dolwyddelan via Llandudno. But at least you can stop a bus almost everywhere.
Dolwyddelan Castle, Llywelyn's Keep
People actually speak Welsh in north Wales, and it's a pretty sounding language. In south Wales on the other side, the bilingual signs and descriptions fe. in the castles are a joke since almost no one can tell you how to pronounce a word, let alone knows what it means.
Conwy Castle, inside seen from one of the towers
Ok, now I'll have to go and sort out 2,000 photos, read up on two weeks worth of blogposts on my sidebar links, and put my foot into cold water because I managed to slip when leaving the ferry in Amsterdam and twist something. No, I'm not going to see a doctor for that, he'd only put my foot in a cast and make a lot of fuss about not doing this and not doing that. I heal better without the 'help' of a bone setter (to use a Mediaeval term).
Criccieth Castle
It's fortunately back to German cakes and sweets; the British stuff is way too sugary for my taste. And to some nice rye bread with cheese instead of scrambled eggs with mushrooms. Nothing wrong with them, but after two weeks I wanted a change. :)
Manorbier Castle, inner ward
The pleasantest spot in Wales, Gerald of Wales called
Manorbier Castle in southern Wales, and he got a point. It is less imposing than some of the huge Norman castles and the Edwardian ones, but it really pretty.
Caerphilly Castle
Caerphilly is another Norman castle in southern Wales. The things are huge, with massive walls, sorrounded by water and ditches, several gatehouses and lots of nasty little tricks to keep those pesky Welsh out.
Pembroke Castle, the Norman keep
Seat of the famous William Marshal, Pembroke Castle dominates the village of the same name. A fun place to
explore.
Pembroke castle in the evening sun
In the evening, the sun came out and I took a walk around the castle to take some photos of the imposing walls looking warm and golden in that light, no longer grey an forbidding.
Caernarfon Castle
One of King Edward I's fortifications in northern Wales (together with Conwy, Harlech, Beaumaris and several others) and birthplace of his son, Edward of Caernarfon, the future Edward II, subject of Kathryn Warner's highly informative
blog.
Caernarfon, the Eagle Tower
Don't get me wrong, I've developed an interest in the Welsh and their history and I'm not the biggest fan of Edward Longshanks, but the castles are still great. *wink*
Beaumaris Castle
Beaumaris is the last and most beautiful of King Edward's Welsh castles. I had luck with the sunny weather which made it a really lovely site to visit.
Beaumaris, outer bailey
An overview of the Roman vestiges in Wales can be found
here.
It's Fun So Far
Just a short check-in from Caernarfon Library's internet. I'm having fun, and the weather is not too bad. I take lots of pics: let's hope they will turn out fine. I am getting tired of scrambled eggs, mushrooms, bacon and beans, though. *grin*
Those Normans really built their castles big - you can put several Hansteins into Caerphilly, for example. The Roman bath at Caerleon is the most splendid I've come across so far, and I've seen quite a few of them. The landscape in northen Wales is gorgeous and made the long bus journey from Pembroke to Caernarfon worth the effort. And I got to stop at Aberystwyth and see the castle ruins there as well. Tomorrow I'll be off to Conwy and Dolwyddelan. Gotta love those Welsh names. And I have figured out how Llywelyn is pronounced. :)
Fallen Splendour, Forgotten Greatness
St Mary's Abbey in York once was the one of the wealthiest monasteries in England and the abbot among the most powerful clergymen of his days. The abbey was built in 1088 and consecrated to the Benedictine rule, though of course, later changes and additions were made; most of what is left looks Gothic (Early English period) to me rather than Norman, except the heavy bundled pillar in the crossing that reminds me of the Norman part of Hexham Abbey.
St.Mary's Abbey, remains of the naveThe Gothic parts would fit with the time the wall encircling the abbey was erected which dates to 1260. The walls proved useful several times when the abbey and the city of York quarreled about taxes and land ownership. Somehow these things always tended to come to blows in the Middle Ages.
Crossing and transept, to the left a bundled pillar of surprising sizeToday only some ruins in the
Museum Gardens remain, but you can still sense some of the splendour in the withered stones. The estate of the monastery once occupied the entire area of the Museum Gardens. What is left are parts of the nave, the crossing and transept, and the cloister.
South entrance to the main naveThe decline of the abbey began when King Henry VIII banned all monasteries in England in 1530. The buildings were converted into a palace for the king when he visited York. Over time, the abbey with outbuildings and church fell into ruins until the Yorkshire Philosophical Society excavated them in the 1820ies and made efforts to preserve the remains.
York Guild Hall
Or, The Ancient Guild Hall of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York.
I like the merchant adventurers; it evokes images of stout cogs with red and white sails ploughing the green waters of the Baltic Sea, camel caravans trudging through yellow sand, mail clad mercenaries with their hands close to the swordhilt, and white eyed moors gesticulating with slant eyed men from Cathai in front of the pillared facades of a Venetian house, or a caftan clad citizen of Novgorod drinking beer with a golden haired Nordman while admiring the wonders of St.Mary Church in Lübeck, anxious to return ere the Gotland pirates gather another fleet. And maybe his comrade of chance is a pirate himself, and the moor in Venice an escaped galley slave who fought as mercenary all the way up into marrying the doge's daughter.
Though the explanation is less romantic: a merchant adventurer was someone who risked - adventured - his money in overseas trade.
Outside view of the York Guild HallI didn't have the Guild Hall on my list of places to see, but when I visted the
Roman baths, I got a ticket for several small museums, including the charming one about
Richard III (which wasn't on my list either thanks to crappy UK travel guidebook - next time I'll spend the money on a Baedecker) and the Guild Hall, so I sneaked it in between breakfast and catching a train to Newcastle on my last day. The place is surely worth a visit. The York Guild Hall is the oldest that survived with its business rooms, hospital and chapel intact, and it's the largest townhouse of the time, only churches and castles were bigger.
In 1357, a group of influential men and women founded a religious fraternity and built the hall. Which proves, again, that not all women in the Middle Ages were suppressed to the level of inisgnificance except for popping out as many children as possible; women held considerable influence in the guilds.
Less than a hundred years later most members were merchants, and they set up a trading association, a guild, alongside the religious fraternity. The hall was quite the multifunctional place, the members conducted trade business, said prayers, cared for the poor, and met socially.
The Guild (today called Company) still exists though no longer as trading association. They still are involved in charity and use the chapel for services, and they own the Guild Hall as trustee for visitors.
The Great HallThe Great Hall was built as double nave because there were no timbers large enough to span the full width - English oaks grow big, but not
that big.
The lower part of the hall, the undercroft, is constructed of bricks; the earliest to be made in York since the Romans left. The upper part is a half-timbered construction . The process used was interesting because each section was first put together lying on the ground, the timbers marked, and then it was dismantled and reassembled in an upright position on the building.
The windows are one of the 16th century additions, the original ones were smaller.
The UndercroftThe Undercroft was used as hospital from 1373 to 1900. Guilds were the first to build hospitals in several towns, for example in Lübeck as well, and there, as in York, the hospital was in use into the 19th century. The name hospital may be somewhat misleading, because the inmates were poor and infirm people rather than acutely sick ones.
A great fireplace was inserted in the 16th century; before the room had been heated by braziers. Some of the beams still show scorch marks of torches. The place must have been rather dark and cold, especially in winter, but probably a paradise for people who else might have been left to sleep on the streets.
Charity is one reason to have a hospital, but another was order. People who had nowhere to go, no connection with the organised life in a town, were considered a potential danger and a disgrace in the eyes of God. By giving them a place to live, they were reintruduced - or kept - within society.
On the undercroft level is also the chapel which was used by the guild members as well as the people in the hospital. It is consecrated to the Holy Trinity which also protected the activities of the guild.
Old furniture in the First AnteroomAn annex was added in the 16th century, it holds the Governor's Parlour and several anterooms. It is a three gabled structure that fits well with the two large gables of the double nave roof. The rooms inside today display a nice arrangement of old furniture, paintings, and some silver.
The company held a number of responsibilites like the control of weights and measures, and they also trained apprentices and helped young men to start their own business. Some of this was conducted past the Middle Ages (there's a 17th century document about a loan, fe.). Until today, the company also keeps the archives.
Source: The guidebook provided by the Company