Whellein Hold, home of Shae, the heroine of DawnSinger, is entirely based upon Castle Conwy in Wales. The first image I saw of the castle blew me away with how small the cars in the parking lot looked in proportion to the building. It’s safe to say that I fell in love with Castle Conwy immediately.
The history of the stronghold is not so lovely, however. It was built by King Edward I to dominate, intimidate, and ultimately subdue the Welsh people. My joy in the structure is somewhat blighted by that fact. Similarly, the beautiful love story between King Edward and his child bride, Eleanor, is tainted by some of Edward’s actions. He is known as ‘Hammer of the Scots” for a reason.
That aside, Castle Conwy, built between 1282 and 1289, is a stunning reminder of a bygone era. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) deems the castle one of “the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe,” and named Castle Conwy a World Heritage site.
Just like Whellein Hold, Castle Conwy has an inner ward that was protected by an inner curtain wall, a gate, and a drawbridge. The royal chambers were in the inner ward, which could be sealed off from the rest of the castle and supplied via the postern gate, which opened onto a dock into the River Conwy at the mouth of the sea. The spring-fed well bedside the inner gate has a water level of 91-feet (28 meters) today.In Medieval times, a well that could not be contaminated by an enemy was a commodity.
The east side of the inner ward contained a garden that was reached through a barbican (a gateway with a tower above it). The royal apartments overlooked this garden, which is how Kai, the hero of DawnSinger, sees his mother looking out while he muses in the garden.
Most of the images, below, are copyright-protected. I was granted permission to use them by the Welsh government. You can see the images larger by clicking them.
When writing Tales of Faeraven, I used European castles or parts of castles as models for the strongholds within my story. Whellein Hold is entirely based upon Castle Conwy in Wales. Over time, I’ll write about more of the amazing castles that inspired settings within Tales of Faeraven.
