Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd
The Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site located in Gwynedd, Wales. It includes the castles of Beaumaris and Harlech and the castles and town walls of Caernarfon and Conwy. UNESCO considers the sites to be the "finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe"; the fortifications were built by Edward I after his invasion of North Wales in 1282. Edward defeated the local Welsh princes in a major campaign and set about permanently colonising the area, he created new fortified towns, protected by castles, in which English immigrants could settle and administer the territories. The project stretched royal resources to the limit. Fresh Welsh revolts followed in 1294 under the leadership of Madog ap Llywelyn. Conwy and Harlech were kept supplied by sea and held out against the attack, but Caernarfon, still only completed, was stormed. In the aftermath, Edward reinvigorated the building programme and ordered the commencement of work at Beaumaris.
Edward's wars in Scotland began to consume royal funding and work soon slowed once again. Building work on all the fortifications had ceased by 1330, without Caernarfon and Beaumaris having been completed; the fortifications played an important part in the conflicts in North Wales over the coming centuries. They were involved in the Glyndŵr Rising of the early 15th century and the Wars of the Roses in the late 15th century. Despite declining in military significance following the succession of the Tudor dynasty to the throne in 1485, they were pressed back into service during the English Civil War in the 17th century. In the aftermath of the conflict, Parliament ordered the slighting, or deliberate destruction, of parts of Conwy and Harlech, but the threat of a pro-Royalist invasion from Scotland ensured that Caernarfon and Beaumaris remained intact. By the end of the 17th century, the castles were ruinous, they became popular with visiting artists during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, visitor numbers increased as access to the region improved during the Victorian period.
The British state invested in the castles and town walls during the 20th century, restoring many of their medieval features. In 1986 the sites were collectively declared to be a World Heritage Site, as outstanding examples of fortifications and military architecture built in the 13th century, are now operated as tourist attractions by the Welsh heritage agency Cadw. For much of the 20th century, the castles and walls were considered from a military perspective, their use of concentric defences and substantial gatehouses led D. J. Cathcart King to describe them as the "zenith of English castle-building", Sidney Toy to assess them as "some of the most powerful castles of any age or country". In the late 20th and 21st centuries, historians such as Michael Prestwich and Abigail Wheatley highlighted the sites' roles as palaces and symbols of royal power; the location of castles such as Caernarfon and Conwy were chosen for their political significance as well as military functions, being built on top of sites belonging to the Welsh princes.
The castles incorporated luxury apartments and gardens, with the intention of supporting large royal courts in splendour. Caernarfon's castle and town walls incorporated expensive stonework intended to evoke images of Arthurian or Roman imperial power in order to bolster Edward's personal prestige; the precise role of the royal architect James of St George in the construction projects, the influence of his native kingdom of Savoy on the designs continues to be debated by academics. The Edwardian castles and town walls in Gwynedd were built as a consequence of the wars fought for the control of Wales in the late 13th century; the kings of England and the Welsh princes had vied for control of the region since the 1070s, with Norman and English nobles and settlers expanding their territories over several centuries. In the 1260s, the Welsh leader Llywelyn ap Gruffudd exploited a civil war between Henry III and rebel barons in England to become the dominant power, was formally recognised as the prince of Wales under the Treaty of Montgomery.
Edward I became the king of England in 1272. Edward had extensive experience of warfare and sieges, having fought in Wales in 1257, led the six-month siege of Kenilworth Castle in 1266 and joined the crusade to North Africa in 1270, he had seen numerous European fortifications, including the planned walled town and castle design at Aigues-Mortes. On assuming the throne, one of Edward's first actions was to renovate and extend the royal fortress of the Tower of London. Edward was responsible for building a sequence of planned walled, towns called bastides across Gascony as part of his attempt to strengthen his authority in the region. Edward authorised new planned towns to be built across England. Meanwhile, relations between Edward and Llywelyn collapsed, leading to Edward invading North Wales in 1276 in an attempt to break Llywelyn's hold on power. During the war Edward built several major castles in order to better control the region and act as bases for campaigning. Edward was successful, the Treaty of Aberconwy in 1277 reaffirmed English dominance, dividing up most of Llwelyn's lands amongst his brothers and Edward.
Edward and his allies amongst the Welsh princes soon began to quarrel, in early 1282 rebellion broke out, led by Llywelyn's brother, Dafydd ap Gruffydd. Edward responded to the revolt by mobilising a royal army of 8,000 foot soldiers and 750 cavalry, which he marched north to Rhuddlan, while in South and mid-Wales Marcher Lord forces advanced from Carmarthen and Montgomery. Edward mounted a naval invasion of the Isle of A
Caernarfon Castle
Caernarfon Castle anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. It was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure; the Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby. While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon; the work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished; the town and castle were sacked in 1294. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year.
During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important; as a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces; this was the last time. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, again in 1969, it is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd". The first fortifications at Caernarfon were built by the Romans, their fort, which they named Segontium, is on the outskirts of the modern town. The fort sat near the bank of the River Seiont. Caernarfon derives its name from the Roman fortifications. In Welsh, the place was called "y gaer yn Arfon", meaning "the stronghold in the land over against Môn".
Little is known about the fate of Segontium and its associated civilian settlement after the Romans departed from Britain in the early 5th century. Following the Norman Conquest of England, William the Conqueror turned his attention to Wales. According to the Domesday Survey of 1086, the Norman Robert of Rhuddlan was nominally in command of the whole of northern Wales, he was killed by the Welsh in 1088. His cousin Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester, reasserted Norman control of north Wales by building three castles: one at an unknown location somewhere in Meirionnydd, one at Aberlleiniog on Anglesey, another at Caernarfon; this early castle was built on a peninsula, bounded by the Menai Strait. While the motte, or mound, was integrated into the Edwardian castle, the location of the original bailey is uncertain, although it may have been to the north-east of the motte. Excavations on top of the motte in 1969 revealed no traces of medieval occupation, suggesting any evidence had been removed, it is that the motte was surmounted by a wooden tower known as a keep.
The Welsh recaptured Gwynedd in 1115, Caernarfon Castle came into the possession of the Welsh princes. From contemporary documents written at the castle, it is known that Llywelyn the Great and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd stayed at Caernarfon. War broke out again between England and Wales on 22 March 1282; the Welsh leader, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, died that year on 11 December. His brother Dafydd ap Gruffydd continued to fight against the English, but in 1283 Edward I was victorious. Edward marched through northern Wales, capturing castles such as that at Dolwyddelan, establishing his own at Conwy. War drew to a close in May 1283 when Dolbadarn Castle, Dafydd ap Gruffudd's last castle, was captured. Shortly after, Edward began building castles at Caernarfon; the castles of Caernarfon and Harlech were the most impressive of their time in Wales, their construction — along with other Edwardian castles in the country — helped establish English rule. The master mason responsible for the design and orchestrating the construction of the castle was James of Saint George, an experienced architect and military engineer who played an important role in building the Edwardian castles in Wales.
According to the Flores Historiarum, during the construction of the castle and planned town, the body of the Roman emperor Magnus Maximus was discovered at Caernarfon and Edward I ordered his reburial in a local church. The construction of the new stone castle was part of a programme of building which transformed Caernarfon; the earliest reference to building at Caernarfon dates from 24 June 1283, when a ditch had been dug separating the site of the castle from the town to the north. A bretagium, a type of stockade, was created around the site to protect it while the permanent defences were under construction. Timber was shipped from as far away as Liverpool. Stone was quarried around the town. A force of hundreds digging the foundations for the castle; as the site expanded, it began to encroach on the town. Residents were not paid compensation until three years la
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares a border to the west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the island's total population and about 3% of the UK's population. Established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 as part of the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland Assembly holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the British government. Northern Ireland co-operates with the Republic of Ireland in some areas, the Agreement granted the Republic the ability to "put forward views and proposals" with "determined efforts to resolve disagreements between the two governments". Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Unlike Southern Ireland, which would become the Irish Free State in 1922, the majority of Northern Ireland's population were unionists, who wanted to remain within the United Kingdom.
Most of these were the Protestant descendants of colonists from Great Britain. However, a significant minority Catholics, were nationalists who wanted a united Ireland independent of British rule. Today, the former see themselves as British and the latter see themselves as Irish, while a distinct Northern Irish or Ulster identity is claimed both by a large minority of Catholics and Protestants and by many of those who are non-aligned. For most of the 20th century, when it came into existence, Northern Ireland was marked by discrimination and hostility between these two sides in what First Minister of Northern Ireland, David Trimble, called a "cold house" for Catholics. In the late 1960s, conflict between state forces and chiefly Protestant unionists on the one hand, chiefly Catholic nationalists on the other, erupted into three decades of violence known as the Troubles, which claimed over 3,500 lives and caused over 50,000 casualties; the 1998 Good Friday Agreement was a major step in the peace process, including the decommissioning of weapons, although sectarianism and religious segregation still remain major social problems, sporadic violence has continued.
Northern Ireland has been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown since the late 1990s; the initial growth came from the "peace dividend" and the links which increased trade with the Republic of Ireland, continuing with a significant increase in tourism and business from around the world. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17.2% in 1986, dropping to 6.1% for June–August 2014 and down by 1.2 percentage points over the year, similar to the UK figure of 6.2%. 58.2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sportspeople from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough and George Best; some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, the rest of the UK are complex, with Northern Ireland sharing both the culture of Ireland and the culture of the United Kingdom.
In many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games; the region, now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century. The English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Following Irish defeat at the Battle of Kinsale, the region's Gaelic, Roman Catholic aristocracy fled to continental Europe in 1607 and the region became subject to major programmes of colonialism by Protestant English and Scottish settlers. A rebellion in 1641 by Irish aristocrats against English rule resulted in a massacre of settlers in Ulster in the context of a war breaking out between England and Ireland fuelled by religious intolerance in government.
Victories by English forces in that war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and the Battle of the Boyne in this latter war are still celebrated by some Protestants. Popes Innocent XI and Alexander VIII had supported William of Orange instead of his maternal uncle and father-in-law James II, despite William being Protestant and James a Catholic, due to William's participation in alliance with both Protesant and Catholic powers in Europe in wars against Louis XIV, the powerful King of France, in conflict with the papacy for decades. In 1693, Pope Innocent XII recognised James as continuing King of Great Britain and Ireland in place of William, after reconciliation with Louis. In 1695, contrary to the terms of the Treaty of Limerick, a series of penal laws were passed by the Anglican ruling class in Ireland in intense anger at the Pope's recognition of James over William, felt to be a betrayal.
The intention of the la
Historic England
Historic England is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture and Sport. It is tasked with protecting the historical environment of England by preserving and listing historic buildings, ancient monuments and advising central and local government; the body was created by the National Heritage Act 1983, operated from April 1984 to April 2015 under the name of English Heritage. In 2015, following the changes to English Heritage's structure that moved the protection of the National Heritage Collection into the voluntary sector in the English Heritage Trust, the body that remained was rebranded as Historic England. Historic England has a similar remit to and complements the work of Natural England which aims to protect the natural environment; the body inherited the Historic England Archive from the old English Heritage, projects linked to the archive such as Britain from Above, which saw the archive work with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland to digitise and put online 96,000 of the oldest Aerofilms images.
The archive holds various nationally important collections and the results of older projects such as the work of the National Buildings Record absorbed by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and the Images of England project which set out to create a accessible online database of the 370,000 listed properties in England at a snapshot in time at the turn of the millennium. Historic England inherits English Heritage's position as the UK government's statutory adviser and a statutory consultee on all aspects of the historic environment and its heritage assets; this includes archaeology on land and under water, historic buildings sites and areas, designated landscapes and the historic elements of the wider landscape. It monitors and reports on the state of England's heritage and publishes the annual Heritage at Risk survey, one of the UK Government's Official statistics, it is tasked to secure the preservation and enhancement of the man-made heritage of England for the benefit of future generations.
Its remit involves: Caring for nationally important archive collections of photographs and other records which document the historic environment of England and date from the eighteenth century onwards. Giving grants national and local organisations for the conservation of historic buildings and landscapes. In 2013/14 over £13 million worth of grants were made to support heritage buildings. Advising central UK government on which English heritage assets are nationally important and should be protected by designation. Administering and maintaining the register of England's listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered battlefields, World Heritage Sites and protected parks and gardens; this is published as an online resource as'The National Heritage List for England'. Advising local authorities on managing changes to the most important parts of heritage. Providing expertise through advice and guidance to improve the standards and skills of people working in heritage, practical conservation and access to resources.
In 2009–2010 it trained around 200 professionals working in local authorities and the wider sector. Consulting and collaborating with other heritage bodies and national planning organisations e.g. the preparation of Planning Policy statement for the Historic Environment Commissioning and conducting archaeological research, including the publication of'Heritage Counts' and ‘Heritage at Risk’ on behalf of the heritage sector which are the annual research surveys into the state of England's heritage. It is not responsible for approving alterations to listed buildings; the management of listed buildings is the responsibility of local planning authorities and the Department for Communities and Local Government. It owns the National Heritage Collection of nationally important historic sites in public care; however they do not run these sites as this function is instead carried out by the English Heritage Trust under licence until 2023. English Heritage Historic England Archive Cadw Historic Scotland Northern Ireland Environment Agency Manx National Heritage Department for Culture and Sport Conservation in the United Kingdom Heritage at Risk Historic houses in England National Trust Properties in England Heritage Open Days List of Conservation topics List of heritage registers List of museums in England Heritage film Official website The Historic England Archive: Search over 1 million catalogue entries describing photographs and drawings of England's buildings and historic sites, held in the Historic England Archive.
Britain from Above: presents the unique Aerofilms collection of aerial photographs from 1919-1953. Images of England website Heritage Explorer: Education site for teachers Department for Culture Media and Sport
Department for Communities
The Department for Communities is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for Communities; the department was created in May 2016 following the Fresh Start Agreement and the dissolution of several departments, such as the Department for Social Development, the Department of the Environment, the Department of Culture and Leisure and the Department for Employment and Learning from which several functions have amalgamated. DfC's overall aim is "tackling disadvantage and building sustainable communities"; the Department has been without a minister since the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2017. The department's main responsibilities are as follows: housing social security and welfare employment services culture and leisure historic and cultural affairsNorthern Ireland has parity with Great Britain in three areas: social security child support pensionsPolicy in these areas is technically devolved but, in practice, follows policy set by Parliament to provide consistency across the United Kingdom.
The department is responsible for the following public bodies: Northern Ireland Housing Executive Charity Commission for Northern Ireland Disability Living Allowance Advisory Board for Northern Ireland Rent Assessment Panel Vaughan CharityIt oversees the Office of the Social Fund Commissioner. DfC's main counterparts in the United Kingdom Government are: the Department for Pensions. In the Irish Government, its main counterparts are: the Department of Social Protection. Housing policy in Northern Ireland was a responsibility of local government and the Ministry of Home Affairs, which retained responsibility for policy areas not delegated to other ministries. A separate Ministry of Health and Local Government was established in June 1944, as part of the welfare state. In January 1965, that department was divided between the Ministry of Development and the Ministry of Health and Social Services; the two ministries were renamed as the Department of the Environment and Department of Health and Social Services under direct rule, introduced in March 1972.
Health and social services and environment ministries were included in the Northern Ireland Executive established in 1974. DfC combined housing and social security policy from those departments; the initials DHSS are still used locally to describe benefits and benefit claimants. Following a referendum on the Belfast Agreement on 23 May 1998 and the granting of royal assent to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 on 19 November 1998, a Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive were established by the United Kingdom Government under Prime Minister Tony Blair; the process was known as devolution and was set up to return devolved legislative powers to Northern Ireland. DfC was one of five new devolved Northern Ireland departments created in December 1999 by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and The Departments Order 1999. A devolved minister first took office on 2 December 1999. Devolution was suspended for four periods, during which the department came under the responsibility of direct rule ministers from the Northern Ireland Office: between 12 February 2000 and 30 May 2000.
Since 8 May 2007, devolution has operated without interruption, however has not been operating in practice since the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2017. During the periods of suspension, the following ministers of the Northern Ireland Office were responsible for the department: George Howarth Des Browne John Spellar David Hanson Committee for Communities Líofa DSD "The Departments Order 1999"
Manx National Heritage
Manx National Heritage is the national heritage organisation for the Isle of Man. The organisation manages a significant proportion of the island’s physical heritage assets including over 3000 acres of coastline and landscape, it holds property, artwork and museum collections in trust for the Manx nation. It is the Isle of an Isle of Man registered charity. Manx National Heritage is a charitable trust, a registered charity created by statute as the Manx Museum and National Trust, it is governed by a board of trustees. Manx National Heritage's role is to lead the Isle of Man's community in recognising, understanding and promoting its cultural heritage and identity to a worldwide audience, it is a designated body of the Isle of Man Government, linked via the Department of Economic Development. The Isle of Man Government provide funding for the trust's core activities and some capital projects Manx National Heritage operates the Isle of Man's National Museum and Art Gallery, National Monuments Service, the National Library and Archive.
Manx National Heritage runs the following museums: Castle Rushen, Castletown Cregneash Folk Village, Cregneash Grove Museum, Ramsey House of Manannan, Peel The Great Laxey Wheel & Mines Trail, Laxey Wheel, Laxey Manx Museum, Douglas The Nautical Museum, Castletown The Old Grammar School, Castletown The Old House of Keys, Castletown Peel Castle, Peel Rushen Abbey, Ballasalla Sound Centre, Calf Sound, near Cregneash Niarbyl, Dalby Niarbyl The following monuments are under the protection of Manx National Heritage: Balladoole The Braaid Cashtal Yn Ard Cronk ny Merriu The Manx Stone Cross Collection Meayll Hill St Michael's Isle The following properties are under the protection of Manx National Heritage: The Ayres The Curraghs Eary Cushlin & Creggan Mooar The Dhoon and Bulgham Brooghs Killabrega Land seaward of the Marine Drive Lower Silverdale Maughold Head & Brooghs. Gob ny Rona Niarbyl The Sound and the Calf of Man Upper Ballaharry Raad ny Foillan http://www.manxnationalheritage.im/ The Friends of Manx National Heritage
