Caerphilly Castle

A friend asked me about the picture on my header, so I put together this post of some pictures I’d taken of Caerphilly Castle in Wales during the summer of 2005. Caerphilly is the second largest castle in the UK after Windsor Castle and it dates from the late 1200s.

Caerphilly at dusk. July 5, 2005

One of the outer walls

Castle ruins - inner walls

Ruins with the inner moat just at the bottom and the outer lake and moat above. Looking over the Caerphilly Valley.

Looking over the moat bridge into the inner aspect of the castle.

Part of the defensive walls with the arrow slots.

Inside the main fortifications

Some restoration/conservation work

There’s some work on the tower on the right. It leans about 15*, more than the Tower of Pisa, and is 3 meters off center.

You can see the angle of the tower from this view.

Looking in from the outer ring to the inner ring.

Castle with the moat surrounding it, and the town of Caerphilly in the background.

My friend Teresa standing inside one of the many fireplaces.

Caerphilly  Castle was about a 15 minute drive from my house in Wales. I used to go over after work and walk around the perimeter, which was about two miles.

I found this aerial shot, which gives you a good indication of how massive the place is, and how it’s fortified by moats and lakes.

Here I am with my nephew who came to stay with me.