{"id":2685,"date":"2026-04-12T17:36:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T16:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/castlestudiestrust.org\/blog\/?p=2685"},"modified":"2026-04-12T17:36:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T16:36:00","slug":"ruthin-castle-conserving-and-learning-more-about-an-edwardian-castle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/castlestudiestrust.org\/blog\/2026\/04\/12\/ruthin-castle-conserving-and-learning-more-about-an-edwardian-castle\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruthin Castle: conserving and learning more about an Edwardian Castle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fiona Gale of the Ruthin Castle Conservation Trust looks at what they are hoping to find out with the engineering survey being co-funded by the Castle Studies Trust about the Great Gatehouse of Ruthin Castle, North Wales. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruthin Castle is situated in North East Wales, it relates to the English conquest of the Welsh carried out by Edward I. In 1277, after conquering Wales and building an iron ring of castles around the north coast, Edward 1 gave the area in which Ruthin Castle now sits to Dafydd ap Gruffydd, brother of Llewelyn the Last. He may have begun some building in Ruthin, but the castle building really took off when the area was given to Reginald de Grey in 1282 following the defeat of Dafydd\u2019s uprising. It is recorded that Edward visited the site of the castle with his \u2018architect\u2019 Master James of St George in the autumn of 1282 and there was some limited expenditure recorded by the Crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The curtain walls of Ruthin Castle have the shape of a large pentagon, with upper and lower wards separated by a deep ditch which lies immediately behind the postern gate. The de Greys remained in control of the site throughout the medieval period, despite an attack from Owain Glyndwr in 1400. Little documentary evidence survives but there is a plan and bird\u2019s eye view from the very early 17th<\/sup> century, by Randle Holme, which shows a number of internal buildings including a great hall, well and chapel. By the early 17th<\/sup> century, however, the castle was in crown hands and recorded as being in a ruinous state \u2018except for the Great Gatehouse\u2019 and at this stage it was bought by the Middletons of Chirk Castle. It played its last military role in the Civil war period when it was held by the Royalists but taken by the Parliamentarians following a siege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ruthin Castle in the 1970s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Nothing was done to the site until the early 19th<\/sup> century and until  then it most probably acted as a good source of building stone for the town of Ruthin. However, in the 1820s the site was inherited by Harriet Middleton, and she built a large mansion house within one corner of the medieval remains. Thirty years later her nephew extended the mansion house and developed a grand garden. The remains of the medieval castle became part of the picturesque grounds of the house and much of the vegetation, particularly ivy and some trees, most probably relate to this time when the romantic picturesque ruins fitted with how a garden should be. The mansion house is now a private hotel with the building listed as Grade 2*, the medieval castle remains are a scheduled ancient monument and the gardens and grounds are on the Gardens Register.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ruthin Great Gatehouse south tower copyright Fiona Gale<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite this neglect of the medieval remains over many centuries, there is a large amount of the fabric surviving, although there have been some alterations and additions as part of the garden development.  Levels within the interior of the curtain walls have been raised by as much as three metres. Around three quarters of the curtain wall survives, with both the postern gate and Great Gatehouse still recognizable. The Great Gatehouse, a key feature of the castle, still acts as the main entranceway into the castle gardens. It was partly rebuilt in the Victorian period, but understanding the extent of this and the extent of medieval remains is extremely important. Ruthin Castle, although one of the important castles build as part of Edward I\u2019s campaign to quell the Welsh, has had very little antiquarian study and little research undertaken. It is hoped that a programme of work, of which this structural examination of the lower areas of the Great Gatehouse funded by the Castle Studies Trust is a part, will begin to add knowledge. A review of the Conservation Management Plan (CMP) in 2021 identified the Great Gatehouse, and particularly features within it, as in imminent danger of collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruthin Castle Conservation Trust was established  in 2016 and members comprise  former Cadw inspector, local historians, construction and planning specialists, and representatives of local organisations. Representatives of the owners also sit on the Trust, demonstrating their support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, the Trust was successful in an application to Cadw for funding to undertake conservation work on the Great Gatehouse of the castle, to address serious issues which had been identified within the CMP. Despite extra funding from Cadw the funds available were only enough to conserve the upper levels of the Gatehouse. The structure proved much more complicated than expected with surviving medieval masonry at ground level, which was completely unexpected, Victorian rebuild of external walls and a subsequent brick \u2018house\u2019 inserted into the structure. The area which was not reconsolidated with funding from Cadw was the lower, predominantly medieval area of the Great Gatehouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ruthin Castle Great Gatehouse lower level interior, copyright Fiona Gale<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to grant aid from the Castle Studies Trust, which is matching a contribution from the Cambrian Archaeological Association, the Trust will employ an expert structural engineer to look at the underground, medieval, areas of the Great Gatehouse, and develop a plan of work to address issues of collapse and water ingress.  This work is scheduled to take place in mid-April 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Armed with this information, the aim is to apply for further funding to address the serious conservation issues remaining. Concurrently the Trust is seeking funds to work with an experienced legal firm to develop a formal, legally binding, agreement between the Trust and the private owners which we hope will open up the possibility to apply for larger sums from the likes of Cadw and National Lottery Heritage Fund to then undertake the pressing conservation issues in the Gatehouse and throughout the extensive medieval remains. The information the structural engineer will provide will be key in moving towards this stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The funding from the Castle Studies Trust will help the Trust both gain further information about the condition of a part of Ruthin Castle and will act as a catalyst for funding in the future. The medieval ruins of Ruthin Castle form part of the gardens of the private hotel but are open to the public to explore, and the Trust would be keen to offer a tour of the remains to members of the Castle Studies Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fiona Gale of the Ruthin Castle Conservation Trust looks at what they are hoping to find out with the engineering survey being co-funded by the Castle Studies Trust about the Great Gatehouse of Ruthin Castle, North Wales. Ruthin Castle is situated in North East Wales, it relates to the English conquest of the Welsh carried … Continue reading Ruthin Castle: conserving and learning more about an Edwardian Castle<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[550,8],"tags":[568,302,569,94],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/castlestudiestrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/castlestudiestrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/castlestudiestrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/castlestudiestrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/castlestudiestrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2685"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/castlestudiestrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2716,"href":"http:\/\/castlestudiestrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685\/revisions\/2716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/castlestudiestrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/castlestudiestrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/castlestudiestrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/castlestudiestrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}