. The London & North-Western Railway . ing Charles, and who in twelve hoursraised 1,500 men for the royal army, held out againsta long siege by the army of the Parliament. Two yearsafter its fall it was retaken by the Royalists, and on itsfinal surrender to Cromwells forces in 1646 it wasordered to be dismantled. But by far the most magnificent of all the strong-holds of North Wales were the three great castles builtby Edward I. That English king rebuilt several ofthe older fastnesses in the Principality, but none ofthese can compare with three which he built for him- L. & 41 6 London and
. The London & North-Western Railway . ing Charles, and who in twelve hoursraised 1,500 men for the royal army, held out againsta long siege by the army of the Parliament. Two yearsafter its fall it was retaken by the Royalists, and on itsfinal surrender to Cromwells forces in 1646 it wasordered to be dismantled. But by far the most magnificent of all the strong-holds of North Wales were the three great castles builtby Edward I. That English king rebuilt several ofthe older fastnesses in the Principality, but none ofthese can compare with three which he built for him- L. & 41 6 London and North-Western Railway self after his final conquest of Llewellyn, and executionof David, in 1283. The same architect, Henry deElreton, planned all three, but it would seem as ifEdward himself had brought home with him from hisCrusade an impression of the fortresses of the Saracens,and had inspired his architect with an idea of thecharacter of those buildings. Ail three must in theirday have been among the most splendid castles in. An Early Engine. Britain, and one remains, even in ruin, among themost magnificent in Europe. Conway Castle, the first of them, forms a vasttriangle of thick and lofty walls, along which are rangedeight mighty circular embattled towers. Each tower is40 feet in outside diameter, with walls n feet thick,and the vast banqueting-hall in the outer court is130 feet long and 30 feet wide, with a great carvedfireplace at each end, and smaller ones at the sides. 42 The Castles of Old Wales Here Edward I. spent at least one royal Christmaswith Eleanor, his queen, and a host of his nobles, andhere on another occasion the king came near to beingcaptured by his enemies. With no more than a fewfollowers he had crossed the river in advance of hisarmy, when the tide flowed in and cut him noticing what had happened, the Welshpoured out of their fastnesses, and furiously attackedthe castle. The little garrison had only a smallquantity of bread and hone
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectlondonandnorthwester
