If you are planning a tour to Britian, and would like to take in some of the spectacle of our military heritage we can help you to take advantage of the dozens of re-enactment and other events staged around the country.
We will be adding an events calendar so you can see what is on and where!
a
relatively minor skirmish in the Wars of the Roses this battle
brought an end to open warfare in Wales and gave Edward IV control
of all Wales save Harlech Castle. A Yorkist army under Sir William
Herbert met a Lancastrian force led by the Earl of Pembroke outside
the walls of Caernarfon. Herbert was victorious and the Lancastrian
leaders fled the country.
Fought
outside Caernarfon during the revolt of Owain Glyndwr, following
his siege of the town and castle with its English garrison.
Significant chiefly as the first occasion on which Glyndwr flew his
flag bearing a golden dragon on a white field. Little is known
about the battle which appears to have been
inconclusive.
A clash
between the Normans and an alliance of Welsh forces seeking control
of Ceredigion, following the revolt against Norman rule in South
Wales in 1136. The battle took place at Crud Mawr, two miles from
Cardigan. The Norman forces were overcome and fled towards the
River Teifi where the bridge collapsed under the weight of the
fugitives. This defeat was a major setback for the Normans, after
which Ceredigion was taken over by Gwynedd. The battle site is
thought to be a high knoll called Banc-y-warren.
Part of the struggle for control of the Welsh Kingdoms of Gwynedd and Deheubarth. In 1081 Gruffydd ap Cynan landed with a force of Irish and Danes to pursue his claim to the throne, joining forces with Rhys ap Tewdwr, King of Deheubarth, at St David's. After a day's march north they met and defeated the army of Trahaearn ap Caradog of Gwynedd. The site of the battle is disputed but may be Mynydd Carningli, the Mountain of the Cairn of Angels, the battle's name Mynydd Carn meaning Mountain of the Cairn.
Scene of a revolt against the Normans in 1136 led by Princess Gwenllian, sister of Owain Gwynedd. The battle took place at Maes Gwenllian (Gwenllian's Field) in the forest of Kingswood, about a mile from Kidwelly Castle. Gwenllian was defeated and is believed to have been killed in the battle.
The last
invasion of Britain by a foreign military force, during the War of
the First Coalition in 1797. Troops from revolutionary France
landed at Carregwastad Head near Fishguard as a diversion in
support of Wolfe Tone's Irish Republicans. Many of the invaders
were irregulars whose discipline quickly broke down. After a brief
clash with a hastily assembled local force of reservists, militia
and sailors under Lord Cawdor the French quickly capitulated. The
Royal Oak pub, where Cawdor made his headquarters, still stands on
Fishguard Square.
Housed in a former Lifeboat House, the museum
has many detailed models of historic ships associated with the port
and theIrish Sea, as well as memorabilia and photographs. A special
exhibition is dedicated to the submarine HMS Thetis, lost at sea a
few weeks before the start of World War II. The Holyhead at War
exhibition, based in an air raid shelter next to the main building,
has artefacts from both world wars, including some relating to the
ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy that were based at Holyhead
during the Second World War.
The centrepiece of Edward I's
'iron ring' of castles, Caernarfon has polygonal towers set along
its massive curtain walls. Town walls, connected to the castle,
were built at the same time and were largely complete by 1285. Yet
these defences failed to stop town and castle being sacked in the
rebellion of 1294 led by Madog ap Llywelyn. In 1401 the castle was
besieged during the Glyndwr Rising and the Battle of Tuthill was
fought nearby. During the Civil War it was held by the Royalists
and besieged three times.
Housed in two towers of Caernarfon Castle, the
museum is dedicated to the history of Wales' oldest infantry
regiment, which dates back to 1689. Collections include the
regiment's 14 Victoria Crosses and a display about the famous
writers who served in it during the First World War – Robert
Graves, David Jones, Frank Richards, Siegfried Sassoon and Hedd
Wyn.
Built in a concentric ‘walls
within walls’ pattern, and sited on a rock near a cliff edge with
only the east side open to attack. Harlech resisted the siege by
Madog ap Lywelyn in 1294-5 but was taken by Owain Glyndwr in 1404
and used as his headquarters until retaken by the English in 1409.
In the Wars of the Roses the Lancastrians held out in Harlech for
seven years, giving rise to the song Men of Harlech, and in the
Civil War it was the last Royalist fortification to surrender.
Ruined but with many walls intact.
Sat on a
headland overlooking Tremadog Bay, Criccieth Castle was originally
built by Welsh prince Llywelyn the Great in the 1230s. The twin
towered gateway is believed to date from this era, but when the
English captured Criccieth in 1283 they added a storey to the
gatehouse and built a new rectangular tower. In 1404 it fell to the
forces of Owain Glyndwr who tore down the walls and set fire to the
castle. Scorch marks can still be seen on some of the ruins.
Visitor displays give information on Welsh castles and on the
medieval chronicler Gerald of Wales.
Norman
castle overlooking the River Gwendraeth and the town of Kidwelly,
dating from about 1200. Unsuccessfully besieged by Owain Glyndwr,
assisted by French troops, in 1403 the gatehouse was damaged and
rebuilt by Henry V. Designed with one set of walls inside another,
it has a semi-circular wall on the land side and a tower guarding
the river side. Outside the gatehouse is a memorial to Princess
Gwenllian who died in battle nearby in 1136.
civil war battle between a
largely untrained army of former Parliamentarians turned Royalists
under Rowland Laugharne and a detachment of the New Model Army
under Colonel Thomas Horton in 1648. Both marched on Cardiff and
met at St Fagans, west of the city, where a Royalist attack was
quickly repulsed by the superior Parliamentarian army. Laugharne
and the remains of his force fled to Pembroke Castle, there to
endure an eight week siege. Visitors to the National History Museum
at St Fagans can walk the battlefield though it is much changed in
appearance.
LaugharneCastle
Built in the 13th century by the de Brian family, an earlier Norman castle on this site saw the meeting of Henry II and Rhys ap Gruffudd to conclude a peace treaty in 1171. Laugharne was a turning point in Owain Glyndwr's rebellion where he was ambushed and lost 700 men, after which he retreated. Elizabeth I granted the castle to Sir John Perrott who converted it into a Tudor mansion. In the Civil War it was besieged by Parliament, damaged by cannon fire and later 'slighted'.
With spectacular views to sea and
mountains, Conwy is one of the best preserved medieval castles.
Built in the 1280s along with the town walls, its rectangular shape
mirrors that of the rock it sits on, with eight towers and two
barbicans. It withstood Madog ap Llywelyn's siege in 1294-5 and in
1399 Richard II took refuge here from Henry Bolingbroke's forces.
Rebels briefly took the castle during the Glyndwr rebellion. In the
Civil War it was Royalist held and hence 'slighted' by Parliament.
Later it fell into ruins but was restored from the 19th century
on.
Remains of a native Welsh castle near Llanfihangel-y-pennant in Gwynedd. Built by Llywelyn the Great in the 1220s to secure and defend the south west of Gwynedd. In 1282 it was taken by English forces under Edward I who expanded the castle. During Madog ap Llywelyn's revolt in 1294 the castle was besieged and burned. Never repaired, it fell into ruins.
The only
native Welsh castle with three wards, Dryslwyn stands on a hill
above the Tywi Valley. Built by the princes of Deheubarth, probably
in the 1220s, it was much expanded later that century and was one
of the last castles to remain in Welsh hands, under Rhys ap
Maredudd. When he rebelled against the English in 1287 the castle
was besieged and taken by Edward I's forces. Later seized by Owain
Glyndwr, the castle seems to have been demolished in the early 15th
century and only fragments remain.
The museum of
the 24th Regiment of Foot, housed in the barracks at Brecon. Its
outstanding collection of weapons includes examples of guns from
the 18th century to the present and its medal room contains over
3000 medals. Perhaps the greatest draw is the Zulu War room,
detailing the regiment's exploits during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879
during which the regiment won 11 Victoria Crosses.
The largest
castle in Wales and the first to adopt the concentric design,
Caerphilly is surrounded by moats and artificial lakes. Built by
Gilbert 'the red' de Clare in the 13th century to secure Norman
control of Glamorgan it was burnt down during construction by his
rival Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in 1270 but was completed despite this
setback. Its design inspired Edward I's string of castles in North
Wales. In the late 15th century it fell into disuse but later
underwent extensive restoration by the Marquesses of
Bute
Exhibition
within the Cardiff Castle Interpretation Centre commemorating 300
years of the 1st The Queens Dragoon Guards and The Royal Welsh.
Soldiers from these two regiments, the former cavalry, the latter
infantry, have taken part in most of Britain's conflicts including
the Battle of Waterloo 1815, the Battle of Ramillies in 1706 and
the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879 as well as recent service in Iraq and
Afghanistan.