Two castles in Wales have been listed in the top five in the whole of the UK according to reviews from the general public.
Kidwelly Castle in Carmarthenshire and Pembroke Castle in Pembrokeshire have been ranked fourth and fifth respectively in a ‘UK’s Best Rated Castle’ list complied by holiday provider Cottages and Castles.
They looked at almost 2,000 castles across the UK in total and calculated the percentage of four and five star reviews each castle had on TripAdvisor.
In first place was Castle Stuart, a 17th century Tower House near Inverness in Scotland, which had an overall rating of 97.84%.
That was followed by Dunnottar Castle in Aberdeenshire with 97.81% of good reviews, and Rowton Castle in Shropshire with 96.97%.
Kidwelly Castle is then in fourth place with 96.93%, with Pembroke Castle in fifth with 96.8%.
Kidwelly Castle sits in the town centre of Kidwelly itself and began life in the early 12th century as a Norman ‘ringwork’ castle made of wood.
It was attacked numerous times before being captured by Lord Rhys in 1159, and by the 13th century the stone castle that still stands today was built.
An interesting fact is that it actually appears in the first scene of the 1975 comedy classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Cadw, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service, refer to Kidwelly Castle as “the medieval fortress of everyone’s dreams”.
On TripAdvisor, one reviewer said: “There’s so much to see at this castle. You can walk the battlements, climb many staircases....it took us a good two hours to go over everything.
"The best castle in the area.”
Another visitor wrote: “We have been to a lot of castle ruins on our holiday - this one is by far the best. So many nooks and crannies to explore. In its time it would have been a very attractive castle.
“Lovely views from the top, and it was a very enjoyable couple of hours spent there. Well worth a visit.”
Pembroke Castle is even older than its counterpart in Kidwelly, having been partly built in the late 11th century. A century later it was given by King Richard I to William the Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke, who rebuilt the castle in stone.
It too has appeared on screen - in the 1968 film The Lion in Winter, the 1976 film Jabberwocky, and the BBC adaptation of Prince Caspian - and is the only castle in the UK to have been built over a natural cavern.
However, the most important thing about the castle’s history is surely the fact that Henry Tudor - who would go on to become King Henry VII - was born there.
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According to one visitor on TripAdvisor: “A visit to the castle is a must - there is masses to see for all ages.
"The history of the castle and the area is laid out in posters and models. You can camber up steps to turrets and there are lovely views.
"There is a huge map of Wales with its key castles and religious buildings in the middle of the large open central area. Great for all ages - a wonderful tourist attraction.
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Another said: “What a castle! Beautiful! We took our five-year-old there and he loved it as much as we did. Due to Covid-19 there was a one-way system in place which everyone adhered to.
“Great insight into Welsh history and beautiful views of Pembroke.”
One keen historian wrote: “As a history teacher and having a history undergraduate as a daughter, we were very excited to visit Henry VII’s birth place. We were not disappointed. Great castle and beautifully kept.”
