Eerie Ewloe Castle
Ewloe Castle
stands on a promontory in North-East Wales near the town of Harwarden, Flintshire. Its position near the
English border gave it a strategic control of the road to Chester. Today its ruins are under the
control of the Welsh heritage agency (Cadw – pronounced ‘kadu’.)
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| Ewloe Castle - 2008 |
The area had earned its place in history even
before the castle was built as in 1157 Welshmen led by Owain Gwynedd, the then
King of North Wales, nearly killed the English King Henry II at the battle of
Ewloe.
Llywelyn the Last began the castle’s
construction in 1257, adding to work undertaken by Owain Gwynedd and Llywelyn
the Great.
At the outbreak of the Welsh Wars in 1277,
Edward I left Chester and established a base at Flint. Although Ewloe may
have been occupied by Edward, Flint
and Rhuddlan castles were preferred; they could be restocked by sea and that’s
why Ewloe went into decline.
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| Ewloe Castle - East Wing 2005 |
Stories of ghosts abound at Ewloe. A glowing
spectre strolling the ramparts once so startled a dog that it never recovered
from the shock and died two days later. Legends say that marching soldiers can
be heard in the surrounding woodland. During thunderstorms the singing of a
phantom crooner drifts down from the ramparts, loud enough to be audible above
the storms.
Image attribution:
- Ewloe Castle – 2008; by Brian Jorgensen; Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.
- Ewloe Castle (east wing) – 2007; by Peter Craine; Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.
- Images from the Geograph project collection.
13 comments:
I love these old castles and the information you've shared about them Bob. It'd be great to get over there and visit more, but I suspect this is the closest I'll come. Wonderful structures! Fascinating history. Thanks
Sue: An A-Z of Climate Matters
I know the Harwarden area well, Bob, but I didn't know about this place. Must brush up on my geography :)
Another intriguing post.
Hi Bob - well we're different again .. I must say I'm learning about Welsh history here .. and spectres .. it so interesting to read the story behind the Castle - and what if - Henry II had been killed ...
Fascinating to read the people within the walls .. what an amazing ruin - and its location - I too need to brush up on my geography and history ...
Great post - thanks Bob .. fun read - Hilary
Thanks for a very interesting post. The photo really drew me in and then I was hooked by your info. Thanks.
I wonder why the dog lingered so long!
Bob, this gets better and better. I'm learning so much about British history, places I'd never heard of with magical spelling. Thank you!
Another interesting castle - You do pick up some ghost stories. Frightened a dog to death, hmmmm!!!
I love these, Bob. I missed this one yesterday. I so love learning about British history. Thank you, thank you! That poor doggie.
Okay. I know this was today not yesterday. Sheesh. I slept in. Coffee anyone??
It's interesting to be able to see how thick the walls are.
Oh that poor dog. I'd love to go visit the castle and scare myself hehe :)
Universal Gibberish
The pictures sparked my curiosity and the story behind them sold me. Thanks for providing us with these beautiful places and captivating stories!
I never get tired of these photographs of old castles. It's more fun, of course, to walk around them -- in Edinburgh, we found ancient walls everywhere, sometimes with a plaque. And your library photos were fun as well, especially the 1842 drawing of only men using the library. Times have changed!
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