Ruthin Castle (Castell Rhuthun)

Ruthin Castle, Denbighshire
Photo © Michael A.Linton, August 7th, 2016

A Victorian building on a 13th century site. In 1826, Ruthin Castle was built over the old Castell Coch yn yr Gwernfor which had been built in 1277 and modified throughout the centuries. The castle was rebuilt and extended in 1849-52.

Ruthin Castle is a medieval castle fortification in Wales, near the town of Ruthin in the Vale of Clwyd.

It was constructed during the late 13th century by Dafydd, the brother of Prince Llywelyn II, on a red sandstone ridge overlooking the valley.

The castle was most notably the base of that branch of the noble de Grey family accorded the title "Barons Grey de Ruthyn" and the head of their marcher lordship of Dyffryn Clwyd. It was a base for Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn – the man who could be said to have sparked the rebellion of Owain Glyndwr.

During the English Civil War Oliver Cromwell's forces dismantled and demolished the castle, in a process of organised defortification called slighting, to prevent the castle's becoming militarily viable in the future. However today the remains are incorporated into a luxury hotel.

In 1923 Ruthin Castle became Britain's first private hospital for the investigation and treatment of obscure internal diseases
Today the castle is run as a hotel