Castles that Made Britain

Join History Hit's medieval expert, Matt Lewis, in this new series as he explores some of Britain’s most iconic castles. It is a spectacular journey to some of the best looking fortresses on earth.

In episode two of our series ‘Castles that Made Britain’, we join Matt Lewis at his favourite fortress in the whole of Britain, Ludlow Castle. Built as a frontier fortress, Ludlow stands proud on what was the harsh wild western frontier between England and Wales. One of the first to be rebuilt in...

In the final episode of the first series of ‘The Castles that Made Britain’, Matt Lewis explores the fascinating history of Conwy Castle on the coast of North Wales. Towards the end of the turbulent and blood-soaked 13th century, King Edward I of England sought to impose his rule on the rest of Britain. He set his sights first on Wales. Edward would build his infamous Ring of Iron, a series of castles designed to strangle Welsh resistance. Conwy was to be the royal jewel, with not only a castle, but a walled town stamping English control into the heart of Wales. From architectural experts to stonemasons, Matt will discover the castle’s French connections and how to spot them today. Historian Nathen Amin tells the story of Conwy’s connection to the Tudors, a Welsh family that would change British history forever, and Matt gets to wind and fire a trebuchet. From Edward I’s hidden room in the chapel to the tale of a small boy who was the centre of a miracle, Conwy has wrapped hundreds o