Castles and Romans in Wales

Our history trip/holiday has seen us travel south to Wales. Our first significant stop was at Chirk Castle, just south of Wrexham. Despite its heavy modification this Edward 1st Castle is still impressive. It holds a magnificent location on elevated ground and would no doubt have given the dastardly welsh second thoughts before trying to invade England.

The view looking up from the welsh side ! According to the details inside the Castle a secondary ring wall was also conceived but not constructed ?

Must have taken some Labour to put those windows through the extremely thick walls ! Despite being a national trust Castle details on the Castle itself were slightly lacking, the focus more on the more recent inhabitants.

The Castle does have an excellent and atmospheric dungeon and lots of opportunity to dress up 🙂

We have now headed further south to Caerleon near Newport to visit some of the excellent Roman remains. These were actually the inspiration for the trip when I saw them on U tube but realised I had never visited them. The small town is well worth a visit with the well preserved amphitheatre

One can definately imagine the gladiators fighting it out here

There is a small but  interesting museum 

Some well preserved baths used by the troops 

And a significant barracks complex all of these within easy walking distance and all free to visit 😀 if you get the chance there is also a lovely and esoteric cafe in the Main Street.