Beaumaris: Edward I's Unfinished Castle and the Gaol
North Wales, Wales
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Beaumaris
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250
XP
1 day
Beaumaris: Edward I's Unfinished Castle and the Gaol
250 XP
Edward I began Beaumaris in 1295, once he had put down the rising of Madog ap Llywelyn, with James of St George directing the work, and it was never finished. The historian Arnold Taylor called it Britain's most perfect example of symmetrical concentric planning: a moated outer ward with twelve towers and two gatehouses around an inner ward with six great towers and two D-shaped gatehouses. It is part of a World Heritage Site. In the town, the gaol built in 1829 has one of the last working penal treadmills in Britain, which pumped water up to the cells, and along the Menai Strait is Thomas Telford's suspension bridge of 1826, one of the first major suspension bridges in the world.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Walk the walls of Beaumaris Castle, begun in 1295 and never finished
2
of 5
Trace the concentric plan: the moated outer ward and the inner ward inside it
3
of 5
Go through Beaumaris Gaol, built in 1829, and find its treadmill
4
of 5
Walk out on Beaumaris Pier over the Menai Strait
5
of 5
See Thomas Telford's Menai Suspension Bridge of 1826 from the Anglesey Coastal Path below it
Walk the walls of Beaumaris Castle, begun in 1295 and never finished
Trace the concentric plan: the moated outer ward and the inner ward inside it
Go through Beaumaris Gaol, built in 1829, and find its treadmill
Walk out on Beaumaris Pier over the Menai Strait
See Thomas Telford's Menai Suspension Bridge of 1826 from the Anglesey Coastal Path below it
Before you go
The Menai Suspension Bridge has been closed to all traffic since 4 October 2025; use the Britannia Bridge (A55).
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
250 XP
Potential total
250 XP
Stop 1 of 4 · Beaumaris, Conwy and Llandudno
North Wales from Holyhead
7 nights · 10 things to do · Wales, North Wales
A week in a loop from Holyhead: Edward I's castles at Beaumaris, Conwy and Harlech, Snowdon by the Miners' Track, Portmeirion on the Dwyryd, and Aberdaron, the pilgrims' village at the end of Llŷn.
Stop 2 of 5 · Caernarfon and Anglesey
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