Ruthin Castle, Peacocks Amuck

If you couldn't tell from our previous posts, we are Americans mildly obsessed with castles. We don't have any true castles in our home country so medieval castles are foreign to us. Their often turbulent histories dating back hundreds of years are truly fascinating and we love exploring them. Even better, staying in them.

We spent 2 pleasantly cool nights in the medieval castle of Ruthin. This fortification turned hotel was one of the few historic accommodations we stayed in England that had air conditioning. It was glorious. The peacocks that have free reign over the hotel grounds were an added bonus.

These are the 2 air conditioned suites we stayed in. Needless to say, we all had 2 very pleasant nights of sleep during the hot Welsh summer.

Peacocks can be found wandering here and there over the castle grounds. They make loud calling noises that echo into the countryside but the noises weren't loud enough to disturb our sleep. They are such funny flamboyant creatures.

Ruthin is derived from the Welsh words 'rhudd' (red) and 'din' (fort). This castle was originally known as The Red Castle in the Great Marsh. It's built on a red sandstone ridge 100 feet above the Clwyd valley. In 1277, the first documented castle was given to Dafydd ap Gruffydd, the treacherous brother of the Welsh Prince Llyweln, by King Edward in return for his help during the invasion of North Wales.

Dafydd eventually succeeded his brother as prince but during that time, the Welsh rebellion was well underway. In a twist of fate, Dafydd was captured by Reginald de Grey, found guilty of High Treason, hung, drawn & quartered, with his quarters dispatched to the four corners of the country and his head spiked atop the Tower of London.

For his services, Reginald de Grey was awarded Ruthin Castle. The de Greys held onto the Castle until 1508 when it was sold to King Henry VII. It was passed down through the line. During the English Civil War, the castle withstood an 11-week siege by Parliamentary troops during which the walls were massively bombarded with artillery. The castle was surrendered and later partially dismantled.

In 1826, the castle was purchased by the Myddleton family, mentioned in our previous post Exploring Chirk Castle, who invested heavily in repairing the castle ruins and grounds. In 1923, the castle was sold and became Britain's 1st private hospital for obscure internal diseases until it was shut down in 1950. In the 1960's, much to our castle-loving benefit, it was converted into a hotel.

The castle grounds are abundantly lush with various flowering plants.

In the evenings, we enjoyed strolling through the gardens and various towers, as did the peacocks, who we stumbled upon in every area of the castle grounds.

Bunnies, peacocks, flowers, a ruined castle and air conditioning... what could be better?

The town of Ruthin as seen from the castle garden.

The Gorsedd Stones Circle are on the castle grounds just beyond the parking area. Don't get overly excited like we did though. We later found out it was erected in 1923, for the National Eisteddfod, a Welsh festival of literature, music and performances.