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103-486: Criccieth Castle ( Welsh : Castell Cricieth ; Welsh pronunciation: [kastɛɬ ˈkrɪkjɛθ] ) is a ruined thirteenth-century castle in Criccieth , Gwynedd , Wales. It is located on a rocky headland overlooking Tremadog Bay and consists of an inner ward almost surrounded by an outer ward. The twin-towered inner gatehouse is the most prominent remaining feature and survives to almost its full height, as does

206-432: A postern and later as a means of communication between the two wards. It is uncertain what the square area of cobbles adjacent to the gate represents, but it may have been an oven. The north tower survives to the base of its first floor, the level of which is indicated by beam-holes in the south-east corner. It is battered on its three outer sides and the north-east wall contains two pairs of latrine chutes, suggesting that

309-466: A "poor borough town". Criccieth is the subject of four colour studies by the Romantic artist J. M. W. Turner, as well as one full watercolour depicting salvage on Criccieth beach with the castle in the background. The sketches were undertaken when Turner visited the coast of North Wales in 1798, and the watercolour dates from 1835. Turner took some artistic licence with the latter, depicting

412-441: A Welsh Language Scheme, which indicates its commitment to the equality of treatment principle. This is sent out in draft form for public consultation for a three-month period, whereupon comments on it may be incorporated into a final version. It requires the final approval of the now defunct Welsh Language Board ( Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg ). Thereafter, the public body is charged with implementing and fulfilling its obligations under

515-594: A Welsh-language edge inscription was used on pound coins dated 1985, 1990 and 1995, which circulated in all parts of the UK prior to their 2017 withdrawal. The wording is Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad (Welsh for 'True am I to my country'), and derives from the national anthem of Wales, " Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau ". UK banknotes are in English only. Some shops employ bilingual signage. Welsh sometimes appears on product packaging or instructions. The UK government has ratified

618-663: A census glossary of terms to support the release of results from the census, including their definition of "main language" as referring to "first or preferred language" (though that wording was not in the census questionnaire itself). The wards in England with the most people giving Welsh as their main language were the Liverpool wards of Central and Greenbank ; and Oswestry South in Shropshire . The wards of Oswestry South (1.15%), Oswestry East (0.86%) and St Oswald (0.71%) had

721-672: A chamber with two arrowloops facing the approach, and a gate passage guarded by a portcullis and a pair of doors. There are differences: Criccieth has three arrowloops to each guardroom, had a stone–vaulted gate passage rather than a wooden ceiling, and its towers were longer and similar to apsidal keeps. Similarities have also been noted between the Criccieth gatehouse and that at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, also built by Ranulf de Blondeville; with Montgomery Castle in Powys , which

824-529: A cistern), south-east tower, and north tower respectively. From c.  1359 to 1381 the castle constable was Syr Hywel y Fwyall ('of the Battleaxe'), who may have commanded a corps of Welshmen at the Battle of Crécy and certainly fought for Edward III at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. The castle's downfall came in the first half of the fifteenth century, when it was destroyed by fire. The walls of

927-413: A contemporary eulogistic awdl poem by Einion ap Madog ap Rhahawd. The castle is again recorded as a prison in 1259, when it housed Maredudd ap Rhys Gryg , a prince of Deheubarth who rebelled against Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. One of the last Welsh records of the castle is a letter from Llywelyn ap Gruffudd to Edward I , sent from Criccieth in 1273 or 1274. By March 1283 the castle had been captured by

1030-409: A doorkeeper, and caretaker), 1 attilliator (superintendent of arms), 1 capellanus (chaplain), 1 cementarius ( stonemason ), 1 carpentarius (carpenter), and 1 faber ( artisan ). Sir William Leyburn was the constable and paid £100 yearly. In 1294 Criccieth was besieged as part of a revolt against English rule by Madog ap Llywelyn . The revolt took Caernarfon Castle and sacked

1133-447: A doorway was inserted into the ground floor, a staircase built against the north-east wall to give access to the first floor, and a second floor probably added. The staircase blocked a pre-existing embrasure in the curtain wall. The tower was richly decorated; the doors to the staircase and first floor are chamfered and decorated with ball-stops , and archaeological finds from the interior include two corbels , one carved with foliage and

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1236-425: A gate passage between them and was built in three phases. The first was Llywelyn ap Iorwerth's initial construction, which consists of approximately the bottom three-quarters of the building. The second phase was probably undertaken by Edward I and raised the height of the structure, creating new battlements and holes for a hoarding . The third phase is probably part of the repairs undertaken by Edward II; it heightened

1339-408: A modest gatehouse in the south-east. The landward side of the castle is defended by two ditches. As noted above, the general consensus is that the castle was built in three main phases. The first phase consists of the work undertaken in the 1230s for Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, probably consisting of the inner ward. The second phase was undertaken some time between 1255 and 1282 for Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, and

1442-413: A rocky headland on the coast. It is almost concentric , with an inner ward surrounded by an outer ward on all sides but the south-east. The inner ward forms an irregular six-sided enclosure and contains a twin-towered gatehouse on the north side and a tower on the south-east. The outer ward is roughly triangular, following the shape of the headland, and contains towers in the north and south-west corners and

1545-409: A significant find was a crucifix made of gilt bronze and Limoges enamel , found in the western inner gatehouse tower and now in the collection of Amgueddfa Cymru . O'Neil concluded from these discoveries that there were three primary building phases: the first dated to the early thirteenth century and included most of the inner ward, the second was dated to c.  1260 and included most of

1648-441: A simple barbican was constructed in front of the gatehouse. In contrast to the inner curtain wall, the outer curtain wall does not survive to a high level and as a result few features remain. Between the south-east tower and the inner gatehouse is a thicker portion of wall which probably marks the site of a stair to the wall-walk. The stretch between the south-west and north towers contains the bases of several embrasures, including

1751-479: A single discourse (known in linguistics as code-switching ). Welsh speakers are largely concentrated in the north and west of Wales, principally Gwynedd , Conwy County Borough , Denbighshire , Anglesey , Carmarthenshire , north Pembrokeshire , Ceredigion , parts of Glamorgan , and north-west and extreme south-west Powys . However, first-language and other fluent speakers can be found throughout Wales. Welsh-speaking communities persisted well into

1854-1041: Is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people . Welsh is spoken natively in Wales , by some in England , and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province , Argentina ). It is spoken by smaller numbers of people in Canada and the United States descended from Welsh immigrants, within their households (especially in Nova Scotia ). Historically, it has also been known in English as "British", "Cambrian", "Cambric" and "Cymric". The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 gave

1957-591: Is available throughout Europe on satellite and online throughout the UK. Since the digital switchover was completed in South Wales on 31 March 2010, S4C Digidol became the main broadcasting channel and fully in Welsh. The main evening television news provided by the BBC in Welsh is available for download. There is also a Welsh-language radio station, BBC Radio Cymru , which was launched in 1977. Maredudd ap Rhys Gryg When his father died, in 1234, Maredudd

2060-688: Is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, which in turn is divided into Early and Late Modern Welsh. The word Welsh is a descendant, via Old English wealh, wielisc , of the Proto-Germanic word * Walhaz , which was derived from the name of the Celtic people known to the Romans as Volcae and which came to refer to speakers of Celtic languages, and then indiscriminately to

2163-435: Is occupied by the gate passage. It was protected by a portcullis, the grooves for which partially survive just within the gate arch, and a pair of doors approximately halfway along. There is a water cistern at the rear of the passage, fed by a natural spring. Just before the cistern are the doors into two near-identical guard chambers, which occupy the ground floors of the towers. Each chamber contains three arrowslits which guard

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2266-409: Is probable that both upper floors were primarily lit by windows in the ruined rear wall; the only surviving window is at first-floor level in the east tower. The rear wall may also have contained fireplaces, as fragments of late thirteenth- or early fourteenth-century chimney were also found during excavations. The other major feature of the inner ward is the south-west tower, which is contemporary with

2369-511: Is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of nearly all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion , although the tales themselves are certainly much older. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts. Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The Bible translations into Welsh helped maintain

2472-732: The Cynfeirdd or "Early Poets" – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was supposedly composed in the Hen Ogledd , raising further questions about the dating of the material and language in which it was originally composed. This discretion stems from the fact that Cumbric was widely believed to have been the language used in Hen Ogledd. An 8th-century inscription in Tywyn shows

2575-500: The 2016 Australian census , 1,688 people noted that they spoke Welsh. In the 2011 Canadian census , 3,885 people reported Welsh as their first language . According to the 2021 Canadian census , 1,130 people noted that Welsh was their mother tongue. The 2018 New Zealand census noted that 1,083 people in New Zealand spoke Welsh. The American Community Survey 2009–2013 noted that 2,235 people aged five years and over in

2678-466: The 2021 census , 7,349 people in England recorded Welsh to be their "main language". In the 2011 census, 1,189 people aged three and over in Scotland noted that Welsh was a language (other than English) that they used at home. It is believed that there are as many as 5,000 speakers of Patagonian Welsh . In response to the question 'Does the person speak a language other than English at home?' in

2781-456: The COVID-19 pandemic , and 31,527 people visited in 2021. The building sequence of the castle is the subject of debate and relies heavily on analysis of the surviving fabric; the Welsh building work is poorly documented, and although English accounts of expenditure on the castle survive they do not record what the sums were spent on. An early attempt to date the castle by observing its fabric

2884-538: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Welsh. The language has greatly increased its prominence since the creation of the television channel S4C in November 1982, which until digital switchover in 2010 broadcast 70 per cent of Channel 4's programming along with a majority of Welsh language shows during peak viewing hours. The all-Welsh-language digital station S4C Digidol

2987-756: The Polish name for Italians) have a similar etymology. The Welsh term for the language, Cymraeg , descends from the Brythonic word combrogi , meaning 'compatriots' or 'fellow countrymen'. Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic , the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons . Classified as Insular Celtic , the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and

3090-640: The United States spoke Welsh at home. The highest number of those (255) lived in Florida . Sources: Calls for the Welsh language to be granted official status grew with the establishment of the nationalist political party Plaid Cymru in 1925, the establishment of the Welsh Language Society in 1962 and the rise of Welsh nationalism in the later 20th century. Of the six living Celtic languages (including two revived), Welsh has

3193-594: The "hugely important role", adding, "I look forward to working with the Welsh Government and organisations in Wales in developing the new system of standards. I will look to build on the good work that has been done by the Welsh Language Board and others to strengthen the Welsh language and ensure that it continues to thrive." First Minister Carwyn Jones said that Huws would act as a champion for

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3296-516: The 1230s and the outer ward between 1255 and 1282 during the rule of his grandson, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd . In 1239 Dafydd ap Llywelyn , the son and heir of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, imprisoned Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ap Iorwerth and Owain Goch ap Gruffydd , his half-brother and half-nephew, at Criccieth. It is probable that the castle was used to house them. Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ap Iorwerth is also described as " Pendefic crukyeith ", or 'Lord of Criccieth' in

3399-423: The 1257 battle of Cymerau where the Welsh side were victorious. However, Rhys Fychan's siding with the Welsh during this battle disenfranchised Maredudd; though he swore allegiance to Llywelyn in 1258, he later that year sided with the king . Consequently, on 28 May 1259, Maredydd was put on trial for treason, the first trial of its kind in Wales. He was found guilty by a council of native lords and imprisoned in

3502-596: The 1880s identified a small part of Shropshire as still then speaking Welsh, with the "Celtic Border" passing from Llanymynech through Oswestry to Chirk . The number of Welsh-speaking people in the rest of Britain has not yet been counted for statistical purposes. In 1993, the Welsh-language television channel S4C published the results of a survey into the numbers of people who spoke or understood Welsh, which estimated that there were around 133,000 Welsh-speaking people living in England, about 50,000 of them in

3605-536: The 1993 Act nor secondary legislation made under it covers the private sector, although some organisations, notably banks and some railway companies, provide some of their information in Welsh. On 7 December 2010, the Welsh Assembly unanimously approved a set of measures to develop the use of the Welsh language within Wales. On 9 February 2011 this measure, the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 ,

3708-486: The Assembly which confirms the official status of the Welsh language; which creates a strong advocate for Welsh speakers and will improve the quality and quantity of services available through the medium of Welsh. I believe that everyone who wants to access services in the Welsh language should be able to do so, and that is what this government has worked towards. This legislation is an important and historic step forward for

3811-529: The English as part of Edward I's conquest of Wales , and the king visited in that year and in 1284. Between 1283 and 1292 the Pipe rolls record that £332 was spent at the castle, and the final expenditure for this period may have been closer to £500. This mostly consisted of improvements to existing structures, particularly the towers, which were heightened and had ground-floor doors inserted. External stairs were also constructed to give access to their first floors and

3914-550: The Greater London area. The Welsh Language Board , on the basis of an analysis of the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, estimated there were 110,000 Welsh-speaking people in England, and another thousand in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the 2011 census , 8,248 people in England gave Welsh in answer to the question "What is your main language?" The Office for National Statistics subsequently published

4017-496: The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, all new signs have Welsh displayed first. There have been incidents of one of the languages being vandalised, which may be considered a hate crime . Since 2000, the teaching of Welsh has been compulsory in all schools in Wales up to age 16; this has had an effect in stabilising and reversing the decline in the language. Text on UK coins tends to be in English and Latin. However,

4120-704: The Welsh Language Scheme. The list of other public bodies which have to prepare Schemes could be added to by initially the Secretary of State for Wales, from 1993 to 1997, by way of statutory instrument . Subsequent to the forming of the National Assembly for Wales in 1997, the Government Minister responsible for the Welsh language can and has passed statutory instruments naming public bodies who have to prepare Schemes. Neither

4223-667: The Welsh language official status in Wales. Welsh and English are de jure official languages of the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd , with Welsh being the only de jure official language in any part of the United Kingdom, with English being merely de facto official. According to the 2021 census , the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%) and nearly three quarters of

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4326-526: The Welsh language, though some had concerns over her appointment: Plaid Cymru spokeswoman Bethan Jenkins said, "I have concerns about the transition from Meri Huws's role from the Welsh Language Board to the language commissioner, and I will be asking the Welsh government how this will be successfully managed. We must be sure that there is no conflict of interest, and that the Welsh Language Commissioner can demonstrate how she will offer

4429-487: The Welsh of the 16th century, but they are similar enough for a fluent Welsh speaker to have little trouble understanding it. During the Modern Welsh period, there has been a decline in the popularity of the Welsh language: the number of Welsh speakers declined to the point at which there was concern that the language would become extinct. During industrialisation in the late 19th century, immigrants from England led to

4532-630: The Welsh-speaking heartlands, with the number dropping to under 50 per cent in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire for the first time. However, according to the Welsh Language Use Survey in 2019–20, 22 per cent of people aged three and over were able to speak Welsh. The Annual Population Survey (APS) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that as of March 2024, approximately 862,700, or 28.0 per cent of

4635-409: The approach to the gatehouse. The first and second storeys were probably divided by wooden partitions into smaller chambers, but it is possible that the first floor was undivided and used as a hall. At each level there is a latrine accessed from a projection on the west tower. One of the chambers in the west tower may have been a chapel, as a crucifix was found during excavations of the ground floor. It

4738-483: The castle by Harold Hughes , published in Archaeologia Cambrensis in 1905, gives some idea of the state of the castle before it was excavated later that century. The above-ground fabric was obscured by ivy, modern restoration, and a cairn, and much of the outer ward and the south-east tower were buried. This made it difficult to ascertain the date and original plan of the castle, particularly that of

4841-456: The castle proper and its outer defences are scheduled monuments . The only other castle site near Criccieth is a motte at Dolbenmaen , approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the town, which may have been built by the Normans in the eleventh century but was soon occupied by the Welsh. Dolbenmaen was probably the administrative centre ( maerdref ) of the commote of Eifionydd , and

4944-408: The castle under the guardianship of the Office of Works . The state carried out extensive consolidation of the fabric, and the castle was excavated under the supervision of Bryan O'Neil; prior to these excavations much of the outer ward and part of the south-east tower were buried. Some parts of the site may have been covered deliberately, as the north tower contained "modern" bricks and china and there

5047-399: The castle, C. N. Johns suggested that the outer ward predated the inner ward; however, this theory was not supported by later historians and Richard Avent reverted to O'Neil's building sequence in his 1989 guide. For his part, in 1983 Avent thought it likely that the north tower was English work, but by 1989 considered Llywelyn ab Iorwerth to be the more probable builder. The source for

5150-460: The census. In terms of usage, ONS also reported that 14.4 per cent (443,800) of people aged three or older in Wales reported that they spoke Welsh daily in March 2024, with 5.4 per cent (165,500) speaking it weekly and 6.5 per cent (201,200) less often. Approximately 1.7 per cent (51,700) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak the language, with the remaining 72.0 per cent of

5253-491: The cliffs higher than in reality and depicting the sea in an unlikely position according to the usual pattern of Criccieth's tides. It is possible that some restoration work took place under the Crown before the sale of the castle in 1858 to William Ormsby-Gore, 2nd Baron Harlech , and Lord Harlech certainly undertook some restoration work in 1879. More work took place in 1933 before George Ormsby-Gore, 3rd Baron Harlech , placed

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5356-414: The course of the 20th century this monolingual population all but disappeared, but a small percentage remained at the time of the 1981 census. Most Welsh-speaking people in Wales also speak English. However, many Welsh-speaking people are more comfortable expressing themselves in Welsh than in English. A speaker's choice of language can vary according to the subject domain and the social context, even within

5459-489: The creation of Old Welsh, Davies suggests it may be more appropriate to refer to this derivative language as Lingua Britannica rather than characterising it as a new language altogether. The argued dates for the period of "Primitive Welsh" are widely debated, with some historians' suggestions differing by hundreds of years. The next main period is Old Welsh ( Hen Gymraeg , 9th to 11th centuries); poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of

5562-479: The decline in Welsh speakers particularly in the South Wales Valleys. Welsh government processes and legislation have worked to increase the proliferation of the Welsh language, for example through education. Welsh has been spoken continuously in Wales throughout history; however, by 1911, it had become a minority language, spoken by 43.5 per cent of the population. While this decline continued over

5665-526: The design of the inner gatehouse has been another topic of debate. There is consensus that Beeston Castle in Cheshire was the primary source, a theory supported by archaeologists including Richard Avent, Laurence Keen , and Rachel Swallow . Beeston was built in the 1220s by Ranulf de Blondeville , an ally of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, and is broadly similar to Criccieth. It was built on a crag and its inner gatehouse consists of two D-shaped towers, each containing

5768-491: The following decades, the language did not die out. The smallest number of speakers was recorded in 1981 with 503,000 although the lowest percentage was recorded in the most recent census in 2021 at 17.8 per cent. By the start of the 21st century, numbers began to increase once more, at least partly as a result of the increase in Welsh-medium education . The 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey showed that 21.7 per cent of

5871-497: The gatehouse a second time. Nevertheless, when Edward the Black Prince commissioned a survey of the castle in 1343 it was again dilapidated and in need of repairs which would cost £96 in total. The same document names the castle towers as the great tower, "sister ( cistern ) tour", Leyburn tower, and "le gynnetour". The English archaeologist Bryan O'Neil identifies these as the inner gatehouse, south-west tower (which contained

5974-447: The gatehouse again, blocking the second-phase battlements and creating new ones above, one of which survives on the eastern tower. The gate arch is a reconstruction. The rear wall of the gatehouse is ruinous, but the remains of the stair to the first floor survive on the east side. The stair was also constructed in three phases, the first two consisting of the original stair and a subsequent widening under Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. Under Edward I

6077-404: The gatehouse but was refaced both internally and externally under Edward I. Its western wall stands to approximately 6.1 m (20 ft) and contains the remains of a fireplace, but it is otherwise ruined. The ground floor would originally have been accessed via a ladder from the floor above, but was later entered from a doorway which was probably inserted by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. The interior of

6180-469: The highest number of native speakers who use the language on a daily basis, and it is the Celtic language which is considered the least endangered by UNESCO . The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages be treated equally in the public sector, as far as is reasonable and practicable. Each public body is required to prepare for approval

6283-476: The highest percentage of residents giving Welsh as their main language. The census also revealed that 3,528 wards in England, or 46% of the total number, contained at least one resident whose main language is Welsh. In terms of the regions of England , North West England (1,945), London (1,310) and the West Midlands (1,265) had the highest number of people noting Welsh as their main language. According to

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6386-456: The history of Welsh, with rather indistinct boundaries: Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. The period immediately following the language's emergence is sometimes referred to as Primitive Welsh, followed by the Old Welsh period – which is generally considered to stretch from the beginning of the 9th century to sometime during the 12th century. The Middle Welsh period

6489-405: The inner curtain wall . The outer curtain wall, the inner ward buildings, and the castle's other three towers are significantly more ruinous, and in places survive only as foundations. The castle was begun in the 1230s by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth , the prince of Gwynedd , who probably built the inner ward and gatehouse. It was extended by his grandson, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd , who probably constructed

6592-468: The inner gatehouse, south-west tower, and south-east tower are burnt red, and a layer of burnt material has been found during excavations in each. It is probable that the fire occurred in 1404, when the castle was captured during the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr and, according to a document of 1450, "totally destroyed". Nevertheless, that same document enlarged the castle's garrison and does not mention repairs to

6695-595: The language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns. Janet Davies proposed that the origins of the Welsh language were much less definite; in The Welsh Language: A History , she proposes that Welsh may have been around even earlier than 600 AD. This is evidenced by the dropping of final syllables from Brittonic: * bardos 'poet' became bardd , and * abona 'river' became afon . Though both Davies and Jackson cite minor changes in syllable structure and sounds as evidence for

6798-506: The language, its speakers and for the nation." The measure was not welcomed warmly by all supporters: Bethan Williams, chairman of the Welsh Language Society, gave a mixed response to the move, saying, "Through this measure we have won official status for the language and that has been warmly welcomed. But there was a core principle missing in the law passed by the Assembly before Christmas. It doesn't give language rights to

6901-555: The language. As Germanic and Gaelic colonisation of Britain proceeded, the Brittonic speakers in Wales were split off from those in northern England, speaking Cumbric, and those in the southwest, speaking what would become Cornish , so the languages diverged. Both the works of Aneirin ( Canu Aneirin , c.  600 ) and the Book of Taliesin ( Canu Taliesin ) were written during this era. Middle Welsh ( Cymraeg Canol )

7004-622: The modern period across the border in England. Archenfield was still Welsh enough in the time of Elizabeth I for the Bishop of Hereford to be made responsible, together with the four Welsh bishops, for the translation of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer into Welsh. Welsh was still commonly spoken there in the first half of the 19th century, and churchwardens' notices were put up in both Welsh and English until about 1860. Alexander John Ellis in

7107-423: The motte is associated with the court ( llys ) of the commote's rulers. Eifionydd's administrative centre was transferred to Criccieth in the 1230s, when Llywelyn ap Iorwerth built the current castle; prior to this the only structures in Criccieth were the parish church of St Catherine and its associated buildings. It is probable that the inner ward of the current castle was built by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth in

7210-448: The number of Welsh-language speakers to one million by 2050. Since 1980, the number of children attending Welsh-medium schools has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased. Welsh is considered the least endangered Celtic language by UNESCO . The language of the Welsh developed from the language of Britons . The emergence of Welsh was not instantaneous and clearly identifiable. Instead,

7313-402: The one blocked by the south-west tower stair. The centre of this section of wall is narrow to accommodate a passage between the curtains, which was originally roofed over; the narrowness of the outer wall here is an indication that it post-dates the inner. Source: Rickard Welsh language Welsh ( Cymraeg [kəmˈraːiɡ] or y Gymraeg [ə ɡəmˈraːiɡ] )

7416-474: The other with a human head, and a foliate capital . The outer gatehouse was originally a simple passage through the curtain wall with a doorway at its inner end. Shortly afterward a second gate was added at the outer end of the passage and its eastern wall thickened, which necessitated lengthening the embrasure on this side. The thickened wall may have extended to the southern corner of the inner ward, controlling access to its southern gate. Finally, under Edward I

7519-426: The outer ward — for example, Hughes speculates that what is now identified as the south-east tower may have been a gateway. When Criccieth was placed in state care in 1933 extensive archaeological excavations were begun, under the direction of Bryan O'Neil, and continued until shortly after the outbreak of World War II . During this time the buried portions of the castle were uncovered and many objects were recovered;

7622-451: The outer ward, and the third consisted of later additions to the first two phases undertaken by Edward I and Edward II after the English capture of the castle. O'Neil's identification of three building phases is widely accepted, and together with the excavations forms the basis of the contemporary understanding of the castle. The academic debate has since shifted to identifying which parts of the fabric belong to which phase. In his 1970 guide to

7725-404: The outer ward. The castle was captured by Edward I of England in 1283 during his conquest of Wales and afterwards repaired and improved, work which included heightening the towers and inner gatehouse. The castle was besieged in 1294–1295 during an unsuccessful revolt against English rule by Madog ap Llywelyn , and further repairs took place under Edward II in the early fourteenth century. It

7828-473: The people of Wales in every aspect of their lives. Despite that, an amendment to that effect was supported by 18 Assembly Members from three different parties, and that was a significant step forward." On 5 October 2011, Meri Huws , Chair of the Welsh Language Board , was appointed the new Welsh Language Commissioner. She released a statement that she was "delighted" to have been appointed to

7931-551: The people of the Western Roman Empire . In Old English the term went through semantic narrowing , coming to refer to either Britons in particular or, in some contexts, slaves. The plural form Wēalas evolved into the name for their territory, Wales. The modern names for various Romance-speaking people in Continental Europe (e.g. Walloons , Valaisans , Vlachs / Wallachians , and Włosi ,

8034-436: The population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills. Other estimates suggest that 862,700 people (28.0%) aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in March 2024. Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20 per cent are able to speak a fair amount. 56 per cent of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19 per cent speak the language weekly. The Welsh Government plans to increase

8137-471: The population not being able to speak it. The National Survey for Wales, conducted by Welsh Government, has also tended to report a higher percentage of Welsh speakers than the census, with the most recent results for 2022–2023 suggesting that 18 per cent of the population aged 3 and over were able to speak Welsh, with an additional 16 per cent noting that they had some Welsh-speaking ability. Historically, large numbers of Welsh people spoke only Welsh. Over

8240-502: The population of Wales aged 3 and over, were able to speak the language. Children and young people aged three to 15 years old were more likely to report that they could speak Welsh than any other age group (48.4 per cent, 241,300). Around 1,001,500 people, or 32.5 per cent, reported that they could understand spoken Welsh. 24.7 per cent (759,200) could read and 22.2 per cent (684,500) could write in Welsh. The APS estimates of Welsh language ability are historically higher than those produced by

8343-407: The population of Wales spoke Welsh, compared with 20.8 per cent in the 2001 census , and 18.5 per cent in the 1991 census . Since 2001, however, the number of Welsh speakers has declined in both the 2011 and 2021 censuses to about 538,300 or 17.8 per cent in 2021, lower than 1991, although it is still higher in absolute terms. The 2011 census also showed a "big drop" in the number of speakers in

8446-409: The required fresh approach to this new role." Huws started her role as the Welsh Language Commissioner on 1 April 2012. Local councils and the Senedd use Welsh, issuing Welsh versions of their literature, to varying degrees. Road signs in Wales are in Welsh and English. Prior to 2016, the choice of which language to display first was the responsibility of the local council. Since then, as part of

8549-402: The rest of the outer ward, but the western corner has almost entirely vanished. As originally built the tower may have consisted of two storeys and resembled the original form of the east tower of Dolwyddelan Castle , built by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth. There are flat stones on the ground which probably carried a wooden floor. The upper walls have been refaced, probably under Edward I; at the same time

8652-599: The shift occurred over a long period, with some historians claiming that it had happened by as late as the 9th century , with a watershed moment being that proposed by linguist Kenneth H. Jackson , the Battle of Dyrham , a military battle between the West Saxons and the Britons in 577 AD, which split the South Western British from direct overland contact with the Welsh. Four periods are identified in

8755-410: The southern and western stretches, as well as the parapet and half an embrasure where the wall meets the west gatehouse tower. Little trace remains of the buildings which stood against the wall, but footings and beam-holes indicate that they existed, as does a 1292 reference to the "king's hall". In the south-east corner, adjacent to the tower, is the south gate, a simple opening which originally served as

8858-399: The stair was widened again and the first phase built up to form a platform, which probably formed the base for a wooden stair which led up to the wall-walk of the curtain wall. A lobby off this wall-walk gave access to the second floor of the gatehouse and to a straight stair in the thickness of the gatehouse wall, which led to its own wall-walk. The centre of the ground floor of the gatehouse

8961-475: The structure, so it is possible that the revolt did not cause total ruin. If this is the case then the fires took place not long after 1450, as there are no further references to the castle being used as a fortress and no record of constables being appointed after Glyndŵr's sacking. The adjacent borough also suffered; it was described as "clene decayed" by John Leland , who travelled through Wales between 1535 and 1545, and by Thomas Pennant in c.  1784 as

9064-441: The third phase of work undertaken between 1283 and 1292 for Edward I of England and between 1307 and 1327 for Edward II of England. The first two phases account for the majority of the fabric, with the third mainly consisting of improvements to the Welsh structure. The inner gatehouse is the most prominent surviving castle structure, as it survives to almost full height on its three outer sides. It consists of two D-shaped towers with

9167-409: The time it was sketched by J. M. W. Turner in 1798. It was sold by the Crown in 1858 but returned to state care in 1933, after which extensive consolidation and archaeological excavations took place. The castle is now maintained by Cadw , the historic environment service of the Welsh Government , and is open to the public. It was designated a grade I listed building in 1949, and both

9270-411: The tower contains the base of a staircase contemporary with the refacing, but this was either left incomplete or later dismantled. There are latrine chutes on the east and west sides of the tower, which suggest that it was of three storeys. Four chutes in the adjoining section of curtain wall to the north are part of the original construction, and served latrines at ground and first-floor level. A staircase

9373-401: The tower had two floors. A flight of wide, shallow steps was built against the inner wall by Edward I, and running south-west from their base is a cobbled platform. These features have been interpreted as being for the transportation of ammunition for an engine mounted on the tower. The south-west tower is the largest in the outer ward, but the most ruinous. Its lower walls are contemporary with

9476-496: The town, and the castles at Harlech and Aberystwyth were also sieged. The garrison at the time consisted of Sir William Leyburn, who was still the constable, 29 men, and 41 townsfolk who had taken refuge in the castle. The siege was lifted in April 1295 and the castle resupplied by sea from Ireland. After this the castle was again used as a prison; further repairs took place between 1307 and 1327 under Edward II, which included raising

9579-526: The use of Welsh in daily life, and standardised spelling. The New Testament was translated by William Salesbury in 1567, and the complete Bible by William Morgan in 1588. Modern Welsh is subdivided into Early Modern Welsh and Late Modern Welsh. Early Modern Welsh ran from the 15th century through to the end of the 16th century, and the Late Modern Welsh period roughly dates from the 16th century onwards. Contemporary Welsh differs greatly from

9682-539: The wall-walks. These changes brought the castle up to date militarily by making each floor of the towers a self-contained defensive unit. A borough was established next to the castle in November 1284; it had 23 burgage plots, the same number as Caernarfon, but does not appear to have been walled . In 1283–1284, when the Welsh castles were particularly well-manned, the Criccieth garrison contained 30 homines defensabiles (garrison men), 10 baslistarii ( crossbowmen ), 15 residui (residents, including sentinels,

9785-430: Was a local tradition that it was infilled in the nineteenth century to prevent children playing in the remains. The castle is now maintained by Cadw , the historic environment service of the Welsh Government , and includes exhibits and information on Welsh castles as well as the 12th-century Anglo-Norman writer Gerald of Wales . It typically receives between 42,000 and 48,000 visitors per year; this number dropped during

9888-517: Was attacked by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth in 1228 and 1231; and with White Castle in Monmouthshire. The second and third castles were associated with Hubert de Burgh , a marcher lord and major power in South Wales. Whatever the exact inspiration for the gatehouse, the result, according to Avent, is that at Criccieth "the latest advances in military technology" are combined with the "somewhat haphazard Welsh castle building style". The castle occupies

9991-453: Was built over the ground-floor entrance to these latrines when the tower was refaced, and provided access to the wall-walk and possibly the first floor of the tower. A stone channel for a lead pipe survives on the exterior of the east side, which fed a cistern. The remainder of the ward is enclosed by a curtain wall, which stands to almost its full height except for the stretch between the gatehouse and south-east tower. The wall-walk survives on

10094-413: Was captured in 1404 during another unsuccessful revolt , led by Owain Glyndŵr . It may have been burnt after the latter attack and was certainly ruinous by the 1450s. Until it was destroyed the castle was frequently used as a prison, housing high-status prisoners of the princes of Gwynedd and Scottish prisoners of Edward I. The castle was subsequently left to decay, and was considered a romantic ruin by

10197-622: Was complete by around AD 550, and labelled the period between then and about AD 800 "Primitive Welsh". This Primitive Welsh may have been spoken in both Wales and the Hen Ogledd ('Old North') – the Brittonic-speaking areas of what are now northern England and southern Scotland – and therefore may have been the ancestor of Cumbric as well as Welsh. Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to

10300-437: Was made by the antiquarian Thomas Pennant in his 1784 Tour in Wales . Despite Edward I being the "supposed founder" of the castle, Pennant would "entertain no doubt" that Criccieth was built by a native Welsh prince because of the similarity of the inner gatehouse to Dolwyddelan Castle . He did, however, incorrectly believe that the rounded outer faces of the gatehouse towers were an Edwardian addition. A more thorough survey of

10403-518: Was passed and received Royal Assent, thus making the Welsh language an officially recognised language within Wales. The measure: The measure required public bodies and some private companies to provide services in Welsh. The Welsh government's Minister for Heritage at the time, Alun Ffred Jones , said, "The Welsh language is a source of great pride for the people of Wales, whether they speak it or not, and I am delighted that this measure has now become law. I am very proud to have steered legislation through

10506-517: Was probably spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth . During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, thus evolving into Welsh and the other Brittonic languages. It is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Linguist Kenneth H. Jackson has suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern

10609-728: Was still young, and his wardship was entrusted to Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke ; their mothers were distant cousins. In 1241, Maredudd married Gilbert's niece, Isobella; the marriage had probably been arranged earlier. Maredudd ap Rhys Gryg died at Dryslwyn on 27 July 1271, leaving behind his son, Rhys ap Maredudd . He is buried at Whitland Abbey. Maredudd was exiled from the south around 1250 due to rivalries with his brother and his nephew, Rhys Mechyll and Rhys Fychan ap Rhys Mechyll. He fled to Gwynedd where he joined Llywelyn ap Gruffydd on his successful campaigns of 1256. Llywelyn thus rewarded him with land round Llanbadarn and Cantref Buellt . Maredudd contributed significantly in

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