Flint Castle: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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'''Flint Castle''' ({{lang-cy|Castell y Fflint}}) in [[Flint, Flintshire]], was the first of a series of [[castle]]s built during [[Edward I of England|King Edward I]]'s campaign to conquer [[Wales]].

The site was chosen for its strategic position in [[Perfeddwlad|North East Wales]]. The castle was only one day's march from [[Chester]], supplies could be brought along the [[River Dee, Wales|River Dee]] and there was by a [[Ford (crossing)|ford]] nearby across to [[England]] that could be used at low tide.<ref name="Flint"/>

==Construction==

Building work began in 1277 initially under Richard {{Lang|fr|L'engenour}}, who would later become [[Chester|Mayor of Chester]] in 1304.<ref name="Flint">{{cite web|url=http://www.fflint.co.uk/castle.html|title=Flint Castle|publisher=Fflint|date=2009-10-18}}</ref> The castle and its earthworks were built by 18,000

laborerslabourers and [[masonry|mason]]s using local [[gritstone|Millstone Grit]] [[ashlar]] and [[sandstone]]. [[Savoy]]ard master mason [[James of Saint George]] was assigned "ad ordiandum opera castorum ibidem" (to undertake the works of the same castle works (referring to all Welsh castle building projects)) in April 1278.<ref>Taylor, A.J. (1950). "Master James of St. George". English Historical Review. 65: 433–457</ref> November 1280 saw him beginning directly overseeing construction at Flint for Edward I as the initially very slow construction pace was accelerated.<ref>{{cite book |last=Walker |first=David |year=1990 |title=Medieval Wales |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=134–5 |isbn=978-0-521-31153-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2GAaZNDmOZEC |access-date=2009-04-18 }}</ref> He remained at the castle for 17 months.<ref name="Flint"/> James of Saint George then moved onto [[Rhuddlan Castle|Rhuddlan]] to oversee its completion.

When work ceased in 1277, Flint Castle had an inner ward and an [[outer bailey]]. They were separated by a tidal [[moat]] and were connected with [[gatehouse]] and [[drawbridge]]. A [[Plantation (settlement or colony)|plantation town]] was also laid out beyond the outer bailey. The inner ward had three large towers and a detached [[keep]]. This isolated tower protected the inner gatehouse and outer bailey. In total expenditure, Edward I spent £6068.7.5d. creating the fortress and the town<ref name="Flint"/> (£{{formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|6068|1307|r=-5}}|0}} as of 2008).{{#tag:ref|Comparing relative average earnings of £6,068 in 1307 with 2008.{{Inflation-fn|UK}}|group="nb"}}