Beaumaris Castle Beaumaris Castle , located in the town of the same name on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales , was built as part of Edward I ' s campaign to conquer the north of Wales after 1282 . Plans were probably first made to construct the castle in 1284 , but this was delayed due to lack of funds and work only began in 1295 following the Madog ap Llywelyn uprising . A substantial workforce was employed in the initial years under the direction of James of St . George . Edward ' s invasion of Scotland soon diverted funding from the project , however , and work stopped , only recommencing after an invasion scare in 1306 . When work finally ceased around 1330 a total of £15 , 000 had been spent , a huge sum for the period , but the castle remained incomplete . Beaumaris Castle was taken by Welsh forces in 1403 during the Owain Glyndŵr rebellion , but recaptured by royal forces in 1405 . Following the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642 , the castle was held by forces loyal to Charles I , holding out until 1646 when it surrendered to the Parliamentary armies . Despite forming part of a local royalist rebellion in 1648 the castle escaped slighting and was garrisoned by Parliament , but fell into ruin around 1660 , eventually forming part of a local stately home and park in the 19th century . In the 21st century the ruined castle is managed by Cadw as a tourist attraction . Historian Arnold Taylor has described Beaumaris Castle as Britain ' s " most perfect example of symmetrical concentric planning " . The fortification is built of local stone , with a moat ed outer ward guarded by twelve towers and two gatehouses , overlooked by an inner ward with two large , D - shaped gatehouses and six massive towers . The inner ward was designed to contain ranges of domestic buildings and accommodation able to support two major households . The south gate could be reached by ship , allowing the castle to be directly supplied by sea . UNESCO considers Beaumaris to be one of " the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe " , and it is classed as a World Heritage site . History . 13th – 14th centuries . The kings of England and the Welsh princes had vied for control of North Wales since the 1070s and the conflict had been renewed during the 13th century , leading to Edward I intervening in North Wales for the second time during his reign in 1282 . Edward invaded with a huge army , pushing north from Carmarthen and westwards from Montgomery and Chester . Edward decided to permanently colonise North Wales and provisions for its governance were set out in the Statute of Rhuddlan , enacted on 3 March 1284 . Wales was divided into counties and shires , emulating how England was governed , with three new shires created in the north - west , Caernarfon , Merioneth and Anglesey . New towns with protective castles were established at Caernarfon and Harlech , the administrative centres of the first two shires , with another castle and walled town built in nearby Conwy , and plans were probably made to establish a similar castle and settlement near the town of Llanfaes on Anglesey . Llanfaes was the wealthiest borough in Wales and largest in terms of population , an important trading port and on the preferred route from North Wales to Ireland . The huge cost of the building the other castles , however , meant that the Llanfaes project had to be postponed . In 1294 Madog ap Llywelyn rebelled against English rule . The revolt was bloody and amongst the casualties was Roger de Pulesdon , the sheriff of Anglesey . Edward suppressed the rebellion over the winter and once Anglesey was reoccupied in April 1295 he immediately began to progress the delayed plans to fortify the area . The chosen site was called Beaumaris , meaning " fair marsh " , whose name derives from the Norman - French " Beau Mareys " , and in Latin the castle was termed " de Bello Marisco " . This was about from Llanfaes and the decision was therefore taken to move the Welsh population of Llanfaes some south - west , where a settlement by the name of Newborough was created for them . The deportation of the local Welsh opened the way for the construction of a prosperous English town , protected by a substantial castle . The castle was positioned in one corner of the town , following a similar town plan to that in the town of Conwy , although in Beaumaris no town walls were constructed at first , despite some foundations being laid . Work began in the summer of 1295 , overseen by Master James of St . George . James had been appointed the " master of the king ' s works in Wales " , reflecting the responsibility he had in their construction and design . From 1295 onwards , Beaumaris became his primary responsibility and more frequently he was given the title " " magister operacionum de Bello Marisco " " . The work was recorded in considerable detail on the pipe rolls , the continuous records of medieval royal expenditure , and , as a result , the early stages of construction at Beaumaris are relatively well understood for the period . A huge amount of work was undertaken in the first summer , with an average of 1 , 800 workmen , 450 stonemasons and 375 quarriers on the site . This consumed around £270 a week in wages and the project rapidly fell into arrears , forcing officials to issue leather tokens instead of paying the workforce with normal coinage . The centre of the castle was filled with temporary huts to house the workforce over the winter . The following spring , James explained to his employers some of the difficulties and the high costs involved : The construction slowed during 1296 , although debts continued to build up , and work dropped off further the following year , stopping entirely by 1300 , by when around £11 , 000 had been spent . The halt was primarily the result of Edward ' s new wars in Scotland , which had begun to consume his attention and financial resources , but it left the castle only partially complete : the inner walls and towers were only a fraction of their proper height and the north and north - west sides lacked outer defences altogether . In 1306 Edward became concerned about a possible Scottish invasion of North Wales , but the unfinished castle had already fallen into a poor state of repair . Work recommenced on completing the outer defences , first under James ' direction and then , after his death in 1309 , Master Nicolas de Derneford . This work finally halted in 1330 with the castle still not built to its intended height ; by the end of the project , £15 , 000 had been spent , a colossal sum for the period . A royal survey in 1343 suggested that at least a further £684 would be needed to complete the castle , but this was never invested . 15th – 21st centuries . In 1400 a revolt broke out in North Wales against English rule , led by Owain Glyndŵr . Beaumaris Castle was placed under siege and captured by the rebels in 1403 , being retaken by royal forces in 1405 . The castle was ill - maintained and fell into disrepair and by 1534 , when Roland de Velville was the castle constable , rain was leaking into most of the rooms . In 1539 a report complained that it was protected by an arsenal of only eight or ten small guns and forty bows , which the castle ' s new constable , Richard Bulkeley , considered to be completely inadequate for protecting the fortress against a potential Scottish attack . Matters worsened and by 1609 the castle was classed as " utterlie decayed " . The English Civil War broke out in 1642 between the Royalist supporters of Charles I and the supporters of Parliament . Beaumaris Castle was a strategic location in the war , as it controlled part of the route between the king ' s bases in Ireland and his operations in England . Thomas Bulkeley , whose family had been involved in the management of the castle for several centuries , held Beaumaris for the king and may have spent around £3 , 000 improving its defences . By 1646 , however , Parliament had defeated the royal armies and the castle was surrendered by Colonel Richard Bulkeley in June . Anglesey revolted against Parliament again in 1648 , and Beaumaris was briefly reoccupied by royalist forces , surrendering for a second time in October that year . After the war many castles were slighted , damaged to put them beyond military use , but Parliament was concerned about the threat of a royalist invasion from Scotland and Beaumaris was spared . Colonel John Jones became the castle governor and a garrison was installed inside , at a cost of £1 , 703 a year . When Charles II returned to the throne in 1660 and restored the Bulkeley family as castle constables , Beaumaris appears to have been stripped of its valuable lead and remaining resources , including the roofs . Lord Thomas Bulkeley bought the castle from the Crown in 1807 for £735 , incorporating it into the park that surrounded his local residence , Baron Hill . By then the castles of North Wales had become attractive locations for visiting painters and travellers , who considered the ivy - clad ruins romantic . Although not as popular as other sites in the region , Beaumaris formed part of this trend and was visited by the future Queen Victoria in 1832 for an Eisteddfod festival and it was painted by J . M . W . Turner in 1835 . Some of the castle ' s stones may have been reused in 1829 to build the nearby Beaumaris Gaol . In 1925 Richard Williams - Bulkeley gave Beaumaris to the Commissioners of Works , who then carried out a large scale restoration programme , stripping back the vegetation , digging out the moat and repairing the stonework . In 1950 the castle , considered by the authorities to be " one of the outstanding Edwardian medieval castles of Wales " , was designated as a Grade I listed building – the highest grade of listing , protecting buildings of " exceptional , usually national , interest " . Beaumaris was declared part of the " Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd " World Heritage site in 1986 , UNESCO considering it one of " the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe " . In the 21st century Beaumaris Castle is managed by Cadw , the Welsh Assembly Government ' s agency for historic monuments , as a tourist attraction , with 75 , 000 visitors during the 2007 – 08 financial year . The castle requires ongoing maintenance and repairs cost £58 , 000 over the 2002 – 03 financial year . Architecture . Beaumaris Castle was never fully built , but had it been completed it would probably have closely resembled Harlech Castle . Both castles are concentric in plan , with walls within walls , although Beaumaris is the more regular in design . Historian Arnold Taylor described Beaumaris as Britain ' s " most perfect example of symmetrical concentric planning " and for many years the castle was regarded as the pinnacle of military engineering during Edward I ' s reign . This evolutionary interpretation is now disputed by historians : Beaumaris was as much a royal palace and symbol of English power as it was a straightforward defensive fortification . Nonetheless , the castle is praised by UNESCO as a " unique artistic achievement " for the way in which is combines " characteristic 13th century double - wall structures with a central plan " and for the beauty of its " proportions and masonry " . Beaumaris Castle was built at around sea - level on top of the till and other sediments that form the local coastline , and was constructed from local Anglesey stone from within of the site , with some stones having brought along the coast by ship , for example from the limestone quarries at Penmon . The stone was a mixture of limestone , sandstone and green schist s , which was used fairly randomly within the walls and towers ; the use of schists ceased after the pause in the building work in 1298 and as a result is limited to the lower levels of the walls . The castle design formed an inner and an outer ward , surrounded in turn by a moat , now partially filled . The main entrance to the castle was the Gate next the Sea , next to the castle ' s tidal dock that allowed it to be supplied directly by sea . The dock was protected by a wall later named the Gunners Walk and a firing platform that may have housed a trebuchet siege engine during the medieval period . The Gate next the Sea led into an outer barbican , protected by a drawbridge , arrow slits and murder - hole s , leading on into the outer ward . The outer ward consisted of an eight - sided curtain wall with twelve turrets enclosing an area approximately across ; one gateway led out to the Gate next the Sea , the other , the Llanfaes Gate , led out to the north side of the castle . The defences were originally equipped with around 300 firing positions for archers , including 164 arrow slits , although 64 of the slits close to the ground level have since been blocked in to prevent them being exploited by attackers , either in the early 15th century or during the Civil War . The walls of the inner ward were more substantial than those of the outer ward , high and thick , with huge towers and two large gatehouses , enclosing a area . The inner ward was intended to hold the accommodation and other domestic buildings of the castle , with ranges of buildings stretching along the west and east sides of the ward ; some of the remains of the fireplaces for these buildings can still be seen in the stonework . It is uncertain if these ranges were actually ever built or if they were constructed but later demolished after the Civil War . If finished , the castle would have been able to host two substantial households and their followers , for example the king and queen , or the king , queen and a prince and his own wife . The D - shaped north gatehouse in the inner ward was intended to be two storeys high , with two sets of five , large windows , of which only one floor was actually completed . It would have included a large hall on the first floor , around by across , divided into two with separate fireplaces for heating . The south gatehouse was designed to be a replica of that on the north side , but building work progressed even less far before finishing in 1330 . Some of the stonework may since have been removed from the gatehouse , reducing its height even further . The walls of the inner ward contain extensive first floor passageways , similar to those at Caernarfon Castle . These were intended to allow members of the castle to move between the towers , accessing the guardrooms , sleeping chambers and the castle latrines . The latrines were designed to be drained by an special system using the water from the moat , but the system does not appear to have worked well in practice . The six towers were intended to be three storeys high and contained fireplaces . The castle chapel was built into one of the towers and would have been used by the king and his family , rather than the wider garrison .