Our first castle stop on the Quest is a hugely significant one. Not only was it was the first of Edward’s new builds to form his ‘Iron Ring’ around the troublesome Welsh rulers’ territories, but it was also to be the location where a later medieval king lost his crown, and his dog.
Flint Castle looking out over the Dee estuary. The water would once have come right up to its walls.
But in 1277, Edward had big plans for Flint. Keen on building symbolism into his castles, even the name, it has been suggested, was symbolic of the spark he planned to ignite that would engulf Llywelyn in flames.
But this wasn’t just to be a castle. It was to have a whole new attendant fortified town, called a ‘bastide’, an idea borrowed from the French. The new English town would be planted next to the castle, becoming home to the people who’d built it. Initially constructed in wood for speed, the castle was to function as the Plantagenet field headquarters. Its position offered proximity to Chester along an old Roman road and, like most of Edward’s new castles, it was accessible to ships. The king’s choice of coastal or major riverside locations for his new fortresses held a distinct strategic advantage; they could easily be resupplied with food and essential goods, and were therefore much harder to cut off during a siege.
The view across the estuary from the walls
Flint Castle employed huge numbers of craftsmen and labourers, many of whom had been conscripted from England and escorted to the site by three mounted soldiers whose job it was to stop them absconding en route. But when it came to recruiting a man to manage the whole project, Edward wanted the best in the game. In 1278, he summoned a supremely talented master mason from Savoy on the French border with Switzerland and Italy, and in 1280 he took charge of the works at Flint. Master James of St George would eventually become the ‘master of the king’s works in Wales’, gaining great rewards for his hard work. And the completion of Flint was to be the first major rung of the ladder on his rise to the dizzy heights of this title.
Exploring the towers
Surrounded by a defensive tidal moat, the square castle had round towers in each corner of the inner curtain wall, but the most striking feature is its uniquely designed round great tower, or keep. It was accessed by a drawbridge from the inner ward, and from payment records we can tell that this was built as lavish accommodation fit for a king, complete a suite of comfortable rooms and a chapel to accommodate his spiritual needs.
The uniquely designed Great Tower, a palatial residence fit for a king
It was this Great Tower that hosted a later medieval drama, when King Richard II was deposed by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, who then became Henry IV. In August 1399, having returned from fighting in Ireland to discover nearly all of his barons’ support had evaporated, the unpopular King Richard II looked out from the castle walls to see his ambitious cousin approaching at the head of a large army. Whilst he’d been away in Ireland, Henry’s campaign against him had gained such traction that it was impossible to resist. So after hearing mass, almost certainly in the chapel of the Great Tower, he went to meet them and to lose his crown. But as if it wasn’t bad enough losing his kingship to the usurper Henry Bolingbroke, he also lost his dog to him.
The story goes that Richard had a faithful Greyhound called Mathe. Devoted to his master, Mathe followed him around everywhere and would jump up, putting his front paws on the king’s shoulders in greeting. But when Henry turned up at the castle to capture and depose Richard, Mathe suddenly turned from his master and went instead to greet the usurper. Having now lost the loyalty even of his beloved dog, the king sadly told his cousin:
“The greyhound maketh you cheer this day as king of England, to which dignity you will be raised, and I shall be deposed. The greyhound possesses this knowledge naturally, therefore take him with you.”
Richard had realised that the dog’s loyalty was, in fact, not to him personally but to the crown – whoever was wearing it.
Inside the Great Tower – watching for usurpers!
The North-East tower would also have been comfortably furnished. The fireplace in the wall still has black soot marks from the cosy fires that would have warmed this first floor room.
After wandering around the castle and exploring its towers and stories, we took a brief stroll to the estuary while the gulls wheeled and cried overhead. It was easy to imagine the place in its heyday, with the water lapping against its walls as it would have done back then. I could almost see the ships pulling alongside to unload their wares and the former grandeur of its circular towers. And with that it was time to move onwards, just as Edward did during the war of 1277…
Heading off up that way next…
medievalwanderings.com 
Brilliant! I loved the story about the dog! Faithless hound!
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I don’t believe it. People are faithless. DOGS don’t follow crowns unless they are edible.
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LOL! Who knows what tasty morsels were hidden in that crown?
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I don’t believe it, either. That dog had to have been enticed. 🙂
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Although my two dogs might go off with anyone. They’d miss me at some point.
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Maybe Mathe did miss Richard after a while. I guess we’ll never know. 🙂
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Maybe Henry Bolingbroke was holding a nice tasty bone behind his back. 🙂
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I suspect as much. That Henry.
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Or bacon.
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That would do it! 😊
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I don’t suppose history records what became of the dog but I think it would be very out of character for a loyal dog to desert his master. I could more easily believe he was just being a dog, curious about the strangers and that Richard’s state of mind made him imagine his dog disloyal. I hope the poor thing didn’t fret for him.
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I guess we’ll never know, but they wouldn’t have known all about animal behaviour back then as we do now, so that’ll how they interpreted Mathe’s actions. I expect as long as he was looked after he’d have been ok in the end. Thanks for reading, Vanda.
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It’s so amazing that it still stands and so much is known about all its details. That is sad he not only lost the crown – but his dog too! Broken hearted for sure. Excited for tomorrows chapter!
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Thanks, Robyn. Yes, these centuries old walls certainly have a lot of stories to tell – even about animals! 🙂
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I’m now enlightened about Flint Castle. Thanks Alli. There’s no substitute is there for actually being somewhere like Flint Castle to get a feel for what it must have been like back then, even if the river doen’t come all the way up to its walls?
Some smashing pictures too, from both you and Stuart 🙂
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Thanks Malc, yes, being there makes all the difference. You can read about a castle all you like, but the only way to really get the feel is to be there. Glad you feal enlightened now, and that you like the pics. 🙂
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I’m assuming of course that it was Stuart who took those pictures
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Well, some of ’em. 😉
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I guessed you took most of them, but I was assuming that Stuart took those pictures of you 🙂
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He did, yes. We tend to hand the camera to and fro on these trips, so to tell you the truth I’m not sure who took what other than the ones of me! I do, however, know I took the one of the North-East tower fireplace because I thought it looked amazing. 🙂
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That’s a perfect example of actually being there. I suspect that you could almost smell the soot 🙂
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Exactly. 🙂
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Yeah I should charge her royalties! 😀 Actually is normally a bit of both, sometimes more from me, sometimes more from her – Alli does have a pretty good eye herself and we seem to compliment each other well.
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How weird about the dog! I’d have been more gutted about that than losing the crown
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So would I! It is strange, isn’t it? I can only hope that Mathe was happy with his new owner.
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Fascinating tale.
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Yeah sod Henry – DOWN WITH THE DOG!!!! 😀
It was a very interesting castle actually, I’ve not seen one like that before with the separate tower, it seems a bit of an odd idea. You’d have thought it being outside the main castle walls would have made it more vulnerable – but I guess they knew what they were doing. The moat was probably very deep.
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And it had it’s own little moat and outer defences. And those thick walls. 🙂
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Very true – it was a really interesting design!
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And completely unique. 🙂
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love your descriptive writing which really draws the reader in, also the great photographs. Bit sad about the tale about Mathe I suspect he was just greeting a visitor (the way my devoted cat does) and Henry who by now must have been very depressed read too much into it, probably thinking I have lost everything and now even Mathe is leaving me. I like to think that having investigated, Mathe turned back to Henry, but we shall never know. Looking forward to your next castle and hope the weather isn’t affecting you.
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Thanks for the kind comments, and it means a lot to know you find the narrative so engaging. Yes it is a shame about Mathe, but I think you’re probably right about Richard’s mindset. And of course that’s just how they interpreted the dog’s actions as they didn’t know much about animal behaviour back then. I’m sure he was well looked after either way. 😊
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Wonderful story about the dog. You look to elegant for someone on a long distance hike lol.
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Thanks Albert. Although that was a castle exploring day with no walking involved so I probably looked less shattered and I didn’t have my walking boots on. 😊 Glad you enjoyed Flint. 😊
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Flint is exactly the type of castle that I swoon over. Ruined, but enough in tact to get a real sense of what it would have been like in its day. The drawbridge leading to the tower is so interesting! I have never seen that type of design before.
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If you like Flint, keep watching becauseit gets better! Glad you’re enjoying it Wendy. 😊 The Great Tower is unique in design and nothing like it is known about. So it’s a one-off. 😊
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So he lost his crown and his dog sounds like a storyline for a country-western song.
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I can hear it now… 🙂
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