Edwardian castles

As a final review and in order to know the historical context for some of the castles that the students had to investigate, the whole group watched the documentary “Castles”, by David Macaulay and read the following text, from the book of the same author:

On March 27, 1283, King Edward I of England named Kevin le Strange to be Lord of Averwyvern —a rich but rebellious area of northwest Wales.

In an attempt to dominate the Welsh once and for all, Edward had embarked on an ambitious and very expensive program to build a series of castles and towns in strategic locations throughout the land. Whenever possible he encouraged loyal noblemen like Kevin to undertake, at their own expense, similar projects which would fit into his master plan.

The castle‟s most important function was to protect the new town. Once established and prosperous, the town would provide a variety of previously unavailable social and economic opportunities, not only to the English settlers who would first occupy it, but eventually to the Welsh as well. By gradually eliminating the need and desire for military confrontation, a town, unlike a castle, would contribute to both conquest and peace.

In order to protect his newly acquired land, Lord Kevin immediately began making preparations to build both a caste and a town. He hired James of Babbington, a master engineer of great skill, to design the project and supervise the work. At King Edward‟s suggestion, a site was to be selected along the coast near the mouth of the river Wyvern, a vital link between the mountainous interior and the sea. After considering several possibilities, Master James and his staff settled on the exact location...