Men of Harlech

Phil is rather proud of his Welsh heritage, which is why we have a small Welsh fleet in our spaceships range. Recently he’s turned his hand to modelling some famous Welsh castles, the first of which are up for release today.

We’re starting with one of the most famous, Harlech Castle in Gwynedd. Built between 1282 and 1289 by Edward I during his invasion of Wales, it withstood a siege during the uprising of Madog ap Llywelyn in 1294-5 but fell to Owain Glyndwr in 1404 before being recaptured in 1409. It was besieged by the Yorkists during the War of the Roses, and then during the English Civil War it was the final castle to fall to the parliamentarians.

The castle has concentric walls with a large gatehouse and four great towers on each corner of the inner wall. It doesn’t have a conventional central keep, instead the great hall and various service buildings were built against the inside of the inner wall.

Our second castle today is Criccieth, also in Gwynedd. In fact we have two versions, early and late, as the castle was substantially extended after the initial build. The inner ward and gatehouse was built in the 1230s by Llywelyn ap Iorwert. The outer ward was constructed by his grandson, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd beginning in around 1255. The castle was captured by Edward I in 1283, after which further improvements were made. It was besieged during Madog ap Llywelyn’s revolt of 1294-5, and captured in 1404 during Owain Glyndwr’s uprising (and possibly burnt). Our models represent firstly the initial build of just the inner ward, while the later model incorporates the extensions and the outer ward.

SSS-8230 – Harlech Castle – £5.00
SSS-8231a – Criccieth Castle (early) – £2.00
SSS-8231b – Criccieth Castle (late) – £4.00