Wales is a small country with a small population, but it has a vast number of castles. According to Rick Turner, the inspector of ancient monuments for Cadw, the Welsh government preservation agency, the official figure is 437. These castles are a testament to the country’s violent past and its conquest by the English, but, as Rick Turner says, these castles have helped create Wales’ image as a land of mystery and imagination:
Rick Turner (Standard British accent): I mean, some of the most interesting and famous romances from the Middle Ages are set in Wales: Chrétien de Troye, Le Conte du Graal, the story of the Holy Grail; several of the stories involve Welshmen in Wales following the myths of Arthur. So Wales seems to have had a particular place in the sort of medieval mind as a place where magical things could happen. And, as I say, the French authors wrote about them, the German authors wrote about them, and then there was obviously your tales in English and Welsh as well. So Wales always seems to have had this slightly sort of mythical romantic quality in which stories could be set and fantastical events could take place, and we like to think it’s still the case.
modern times
The castles are also a testament to Wales’ more recent history. Rick Turner thinks that Cardiff Castle in the capital city is a “wonderful place”:
Rick Turner: It’s built upon a Roman fort, a fort from the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, and then it’s the first place in South Wales to have been developed as a castle by the Normans, so there’s a magnificent motte and a keep on the motte, and then slowly it develops into, effectively, a great country house. And by the end of the 19th century the owners, the Marquess of Bute, who are incredibly rich and powerful people, building on the wealth of the coal trade here in Cardiff, commissioned this eccentric architect called William Burgess, who produced these magnificent fantasy interiors, sort of the Middle Ages as he dreamt them to be, rather than they were, and so you have these most wonderful interiors from about 130, 140 years ago, all have been very carefully restored recently and are an extraordinary experience to go round.
independence
The same could be said of Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. This was the site of the Investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969. Welsh nationalists demonstrated against this but, as Rick Turner says, times have changed:
Rick Turner: I mean, Wales has a new-found independence. Since 1999 we’ve had our own assembly, now government, and people in Wales can take decisions for themselves, and I think that’s helped people readjust their view of the history of Wales, that there are many different cultures and forces that have been at play here in Wales, and they all contribute to that history. Treating some of our castles as symbol(s) of English oppression, I think people have a more rounded view of their history.
If you go back to 1969, when Prince Charles was invested as Prince of Wales, there was a very profound tension there. There were demonstrations against this because they couldn’t see how someone with his background should be Prince of Wales. I think now, if Prince William were made Prince of Wales, I mean, he lives in Wales with his wife Kate at the moment, I think there would be an entirely different reaction if he became Prince of Wales and was invested in Caernarfon Castle. I think there would be a completely different atmosphere, I think there’d be very broad support for this and you wouldn’t see this political tension.
Para saber más: The Land of Castles: Wales
