A big year for Denbigh

On 6 April, Denbigh Castle will reopen with a new visitor centre and redesigned interpretation. Along with a walk through the town and a description of the new facilities, an expert explains why the castle is so special.

Denbigh Castle’s great gatehouse — the largest and most sophisticated ever constructed in the British Isles heritage in wales l spring 2012 A symbol of ambition the massive resources at the disposal of their builder, Henry de Lacy, , who

John Goodall, architectural editor of Country was given the of Denbigh by Edward Life and author of The English Castle tells why N I in 1282. The imposing town frontage of the the castle intrigues him. castle begun in 1295 not only includes a line of grand polygonal towers, but is also backed At the end of the stiff pull up the narrow by a substantial stone-built hall. At its centre and winding Bull Lane, the riches of Denbigh stand the remains of the largest and most unfold in exhilarating sequence. First the sophisticated gatehouse ever constructed in curious ruins of Lord Leicester’s Church, the British Isles. 0 Metres 15 then the tower of St Hilary’s Chapel in an On a bright day the gatehouse’s undulating sea of grass and finally, on the 0 Feet 50 north-facing facade is shrouded in shadow Entrance summit of the hill, the ruins of the castle. All and the huge entrance arch, presided over these monuments deserve to be much better Denbigh’s triple-towered gatehouse reflects by the figure of a seated king, feels like the known than they are, but it is the castle that the late thirteenth-century fascination for entrance to a cavern. Despite its deliberate most intrigues me as a work of architecture. buildings designed with complex underlying ruin in 1660, the overall plan of the building is Its buildings reflect in their scale and detail geometry still easily legible: there were three towers on

Outside the castle walls The Forum 21 High Street D E This short walk includes a few highlights of Siop Clwyd Library the town of Denbigh, many of whose fine F HIGH STREET

buildings have recently benefited from a BULL LANE The Guildhall Tavern Townscape Heritage Initiative.

E AN L LL HI Start at the castle; if it is open, ask the OM Burgess BRO custodian for the key to the town walls, Gate C North-Eastern which you will need later in your walk. To w e r LEICESTER TERRACE The area outside the castle gate lies G within the late thirteenth-century town CASTLE HILL Countess B walls. The borough of Denbigh, which To w e r received its first charter from Henry de Lord Leicester’s Lacy in October 1285, initially grew here, A Church Salient but, by 1305, there were already many St Hilary’s houses outside their protective circuit. Chapel HGoblin Tower The extramural settlement continued to Exchequer flourish and in 1586 the antiquarian William Gate Camden observed: ‘The old town is now Tour Route deserted and a new one, much larger, P sprung up at the foot of the hill …’ Keys may be obtained r e from the castle The isolated tower is all that is left of St Denbigh ga in n custodian or the town Hilary’s Chapel (A), originally constructed Castle w C library d to serve the English immigrants to the new oe C borough. The rest was demolished in 1923. Bastion 0 Metres 60 To w e r A short distance away are the ruins of 0 Feet 200 Lord Leicester’s Church (B). Robert Dudley, the favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, was created Baron Denbigh and earl of Leicester twin-towered gatehouse which was the the middle, has been tree-ring dated to in 1564. In 1578, he started building this principal entrance to the walled town. Its 1533, making it one of the earliest known large church, designed as a great Protestant importance is emphasised by the chequered domestic buildings in the town. Other preaching hall, to replace the overcrowded stonework at the top of its outer walls. noteworthy buildings here include the St Hilary’s. Dudley may also have intended Follow Broomhill Lane down to High seventeenth-century Forum and 21 High that his new church would replace St Asaph Street, Denbigh’s historic marketplace. Street, from the mid-eighteenth century. as the cathedral for north-east Wales. This Across the street a colonnade stretches At the top of High Street stands was the only large new church to be built across the front of seven buildings of the Library (E), which also contains a in Britain during Elizabeth’s reign, but work different dates. These buildings stand on an local museum and art gallery. It was came to a halt in 1584. ‘island’ that probably originated as an early constructed by Robert Dudley as a new A stroll along Leicester Terrace will bring encroachment on the marketplace (D). Siop shire hall in 1572. There was an open you to the Burgess Gate (C), a powerful Clwyd, a small half-timbered building near colonnaded market hall below. The building a big year for denbigh castle a polygonal plan grouped together around a gatehouse is impossible to reconstruct central, octagonal entrance porch. with the evidence available. It might have Inspiration for this vast composition been conceived as a very tall building in undoubtedly came from a late thirteenth- proportion to its plan, as is the case with century fascination for buildings designed three related fourteenth-century buildings: with complex underlying geometry, notably the great tower of Knaresborough, the the octagonal chapter house of Westminster porch of St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol and the Abbey and a group of polygonal porches, Watergate at Warwick. If so, it seems unlikely such as that to St Laurence’s Church, . that the building was ever completed, since The immediate parallels for the gatehouse, early views show it as broad and squat. however, are at Caernarfon: the two principal There are few buildings that convey so gates and the Eagle Tower which severally vividly the ambition and power of thirteenth- offer parallels for particular details of the century castle builders in Wales. gatehouse such as its triangular plan, its triple towers, its facade and its incorporation of • The English Castle was published by Yale polygons. The King’s Gate at Caernarfon Castle exhibits University Press in 2011 with support The intended original form of the Denbigh parallels with Denbigh’s gatehouse from Cadw.

Left: St Hilary’s Chapel (A) with Lord Leicester’s Church (B) beneath the trees Above: The Burgess Gate (C) Right: The Library (E) Monuments of Wales, Wales, of Monuments ©: R oyal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Historical and Ancient the on Commission oyal was remodelled in the 1780s and the rooms added in the fourteenth century. The Every September, Open Doors in colonnades blocked. If you did not collect fourteenth century also saw the creation of Denbigh (www.opendoorsdenbighshire. a key for the town walls at the castle, one the salient and the Goblin Tower (H), which org.uk) celebrates the town’s heritage and may be obtained here too, on payment of surround a triangular piece of ground in architecture as part of the wider European N P RN

a deposit. front of the original town wall. Heritage Days. It is supported by the Civic D 23423, Near the Library is the early-seventeenth The hexagonal Goblin Tower contains Trust in Wales and Cadw.

century Guildhall Tavern, formerly the Bull a deep well, and the desire to enclose this S 2009_122_03 Hotel (F). According to tradition, this served reliable source of water probably accounts as headquarters for the parliamentary for the building of the fourteenth-century commanders Sir Thomas Mytton and Sir defences. During the Civil War siege, the Thomas Myddleton while they besieged parliamentary attackers concentrated Denbigh Castle during the Civil War. The their attacks on the Goblin Tower. During siege lasted from April to October 1646 recent conservation work, a cannonball was and the castle was finally surrendered by the found still deeply embedded in the tower’s royalist Colonel William Salesbury, who was stonework. known to his men as ‘Hen Hosannau Gleision’ Follow the path that climbs up from the (Old Blue Stockings). Goblin Tower and leave the salient by a gate Bull Lane leads up the hill to the gate (please lock it behind you). A path through to the town walls (please lock it behind the woods leads back to the castle car park. you), which were built simultaneously with the castle between 1282 and 1294. You • Guided tours of Denbigh are offered by a pass the half-round north-eastern tower team of volunteer tour guides. For further before reaching the Countess Tower (G), details or to pre-book a group tour, contact The wall of the salient looking toward the which consists of two angular turrets with the Town Clerk on 01745 815984 Countess Tower (G) heritage in wales l spring 2012

An architect’s impression of the new visitor centre at Denbigh

What’s new at Denbigh and Town Walls of Edward I. Trails featuring each of the three The new interpretation, which has been characters will help children and their families Cadw’s interpretation officer, David Jones, tailored to the needs and interests of the discover the castle’s principal features and its surveys the new features that await visitors many families who visit the castle, will begin intriguing hidden corners. Each character will as soon as you step into the celebrated have different views and perceptions of the When Denbigh’s new visitor centre opens, three-towered gatehouse. The clatter of castle, creating a multilayered and memorable it will provide the castle with up-to-date the rising portcullis and the heavy tread experience. facilities of the kind that visitors increasingly of marching soldiers will leave no doubt If you would rather explore on your expect at heritage sites. The design of the that you are entering a great and powerful own, you will find new interpretative panels building incorporates many environmentally stronghold. with reconstruction drawings and lively and friendly features — such as a ground source Once inside, a short film in the visitor engaging texts explaining what life was like heat pump, electricity-generating solar panels, centre will introduce you to three cartoon for the people who lived and worked in a green roof planted with sedum and LED characters — Huw, the castle guard; Tom, the castle. There will also be a display of the lighting throughout — but also offers a the kitchen boy; and young Eleanor (based medieval artefacts found during excavations well-stocked shop, a café bar and terrace, on the daughter of Henry de Lacy’s cousin, at the castle and a handling collection of and a multisensory interpretation area. Earl Gilbert de Clare, and the granddaughter replica objects.

Denbigh’s story is long andD fascinating, of Edward I) — who help bring the castle’s The new interpretation extends into from its beginnings as a llys of the story to life. the surrounding areas too, including the princes of Gwynedd, through town walls and Lord Leicester’s the construction of the castle Church. These panels draw out by Henry de Lacy in the late the important links between thirteenth century, right up to castle and the town — vital in the six-month siege during the understanding the rich history of Civil War. New interpretation Denbigh as a whole. has been installed to tell that The new visitor centre and story and to reveal the castle’s interpretation have been funded complexity and sophistication through Cadw’s £19 million as a palatial home as well as a European-funded Heritage mighty fortress. It also emphasises Tourism Project, which is Denbigh’s important place in the backed by £8.5 million from the larger narratives identified in the European Regional Development all-Wales interpretation plans for A preliminary drawing by the interpretative designers, Imagemakers, Fund through the Welsh The Princes of Gwynedd and The for one of the new displays in the visitor centre Government.

Interpretation area 01