Ruthin Castle

Ruthin Castle stands on a red sandstone ridge above the Vale of Clwyd in north-east Wales. Built in the late 13th century by Dafydd ap Gruffydd, it began as a royal stronghold and later became the power base of the de Grey family. The castle’s medieval walls still rise above the valley, forming part of the present-day hotel. Its history includes a siege during the English Civil War and the imprisonment of the recusant poet Richard Gwyn. Gwyn was executed in Wrexham in 1584 and later canonised among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. The castle’s most famous resident was Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn, whose actions helped provoke Owain Glyndŵr’s rebellion. After the Civil War, Oliver Cromwell’s forces dismantled much of the fortress in a process called slighting. In the 20th century it became Britain’s first private hospital for obscure diseases before reopening as a hotel. Prince Charles stayed there before his investiture in 1969, and the castle is also known for its haunted reputation. Visitors today walk along stretches of the ancient walls and explore rooms within the hotel. The site retains parts of the original medieval structure, including sections of the curtain wall. The hotel offers guests views over the surrounding countryside and the town of Ruthin below. Some rooms occupy spaces once used by the de Grey family, while others reflect the castle’s later medical past. The grounds include the ridge on which the castle was built, providing quiet walks among the old stonework.