id: sig-20260722-report-an001
site_id: gb-beaumaris-beaumaris
attribute: designation_report
value: 'Reference Number

  AN001

  Name

  Beaumaris Castle

  Date of Designation

  05/11/1925

  Status

  Designated

  Unitary Authority

  Isle of Anglesey

  Community

  Beaumaris

  Easting

  260712

  Northing

  376238

  Broad Class

  Defence

  Site Type

  Castle

  Period

  Medieval

  The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument

  The monument comprises the remains of a medieval castle built by King Edward I. Begun in
  1295, Beaumaris Castle was the last royal stronghold to be built by the King in Wales and
  completed the chain of fortifications with which he had begun to enclose Gwynedd in 1277.  Located
  on the south-eastern coast of the Isle of Anglesey, the castle controlled the new county
  of Anglesey and the Menai Strait that divides the island from the mainland.  Beaumaris,
  meaning the ‘fair marsh’, was situated on level marshy ground not far from the water’s edge.  The
  plan of the castle took full advantage of the flat site, unfettered by the natural constraints
  that shaped Conwy and Caernarfon Castles. It was built on the concentric – walls within
  walls – principle with four rings of formidable defences, including a wide water-filled
  moat with a dock that enabled the castle to be supplied directly from the sea.

  The castle consists of an inner ward or courtyard which is more or less square, with a gatehouse
  north and south, and an outer ward of which the sides are not straight but angle outwards
  slightly in the middle. There are towers at each corner of the inner and outer wards, with
  buttressing towers in the outside centre of east and west inner walls, and traces of buildings
  in the inner ward.  A moat once surrounded the castle and still exists on the north, west
  and half the south sides. There is a dock on the south where the moat now ends. The entrance
  is through the south gate, where cobbled floors survive.  To a large extent the structure
  of the castle remains as it was constructed in 1295-1330. Domestic buildings within the
  inner ward have been removed; the eastern part of the moat has been filled in and the castle
  dock is no longer connected to the sea. The walls of the outer ward remain at their full
  height.  The two gatehouses and the walls of the inner ward remain at the extent and height
  reached before construction ceased in 1330. Although minor sums of money continued to be
  spent on maintenance during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, there is no firm evidence
  of work of any consequence. Nevertheless, it was sufficiently complete to be garrisoned
  and besieged during the revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr (about 1400-10).  By 1539, however, the
  castle was reported to be in a ruinous state and by 1609 it was utterly decayed, so much
  so that when civil war broke out in 1642, Viscount Bulkeley is said to have spent £3000
  on repairs to it in the royalist cause. But the eventual victory of parliament led in 1646
  to the surrender of the castle to Major-General Thomas Mytton and by about 1660 some partial
  dismantling seems to have taken place.

  The monument is of national and international importance for its potential to enhance our
  knowledge of medieval social, domestic and political life and warfare. This is reflected
  by its designation as a World Heritage Site.The scheduled area comprises the remains described
  and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.'
source_url: http://cadwpublic-api.azurewebsites.net/reports/sam/FullReport?lang=en&id=3319
source_title: Scheduled Monument Full Report — Beaumaris Castle
publisher: Cadw
observed_date: '2026-07-22'
collected_by: scripts/build_assessment_batch.py
confidence: high
notes: The designation text. Assess the six bands against THIS evidence only; omit any band
  it does not speak to.