Why does COCH CASTLE have this tiny TOWER? | The most INCREDIBLE castle you've never heard of

As I noted in the short on Castle Coch, this castle is a romanticized reconstruction of a ruined castle with reconstruction beginning in 1875. The reconstruction was undertaken by the Marquis of Bute, who was an avid medievalist. He restored Caerphilly, Cardiff and Coch castles. He employed and fellow medievalist architect, William Burges, who in 1872 prepared a report on the conditions of the ruins of Castell Coch and a proposed reconstruction of the castle.

In the report, William Burges noted that everything above the basement level on the castle was purely conjectural. There are a number of elements to the castle that Mr. Burges noted were not supported by historical precedence in medieval English architecture. The main element that was not historical for the UK are the conical tower rooves. This element was said to be not supported and Mr. Burges could not find examples in the UK to support such a tower roof. It was added because the Marquis of Bute adored a castle he visited in Switzerland, so he wanted that element as a part of his new summer home (castle) in Wales. Actual Welsh medieval castle rooves were in line with the restoration of castles like Caernarfon and Caerphilly, where the roof was set below a battlement and made of lead sheets over wood. This protected the rooves from most types of siege weapons. Castell Coch is made of a non-historically accurate conical slate tile roof, which while beautiful, would have been a weak part of the castle.

Another issue with the castle is the hourding. The hourd over the main gate was noted by Mr. Burges to have been only installed during times of war, if it existed at all. It was an architectural element that the Marquis insisted on and was done in red to highlight the castle's name. The postholes were left in place after the construction due to the fact most construction post holes and hourding holes were not filled in on most existing examples in the 1870's when the reconstruction occurred. Construction post holes would likely have been filed in as the scaffolding was removed, but over the centuries those post holes reopened.

Finally, the interior which Shad will talk about in another video is a purely romantic Victorian idyll version of a medieval castle. If must be remembered that this was built to be the Marquis' summer home and thusly it was designed to be a part of his vision of a fantasy castle of the Victorian era, not the true example of what the interior would look like in the 13th through 14th centuries.

These castle videos have really been consistently great, they are so entertaining and so educational.

Castell Coch has a huge meaning to me,

My Nan lived near the foot of it, and all my family were from around that area.

As a kid driving back to visit my Nan as a kid we used to play first one to spot the castle,😂 as it’s so gorgeous that you can see it up high from miles away.

My parents had their wedding photos and events there on their wedding, still have the photos on display.

And then to keep tradition my cousin actually got married in the castle. Which was great. Sitting in the little chapel.

It’s been great to see the changes and maintenance over the years.

And it looks fantastic lit up at night!

Can't wait to see the interior video and what you have to say. I have visited both Castell Coch (side note its either "Castell Coch" or "Red Castle" and never "Coch Castle") and Cardiff Castle (also renovated by the 3rd Marquis of Bute and his architect William Burgess) on many occasions (yes I'm originally a Cardiff boy)

I think it's his wife, but I gotta say thanks to whoever filmed all these videos during their vacation. They must spend most of the day at each location, so thank you for helping with a better perspective than a handheld vlog style if it was just Shad!

This is my most favorate castle! Im soooo jelouse you got to visist it. I have always dreamed of one day building an exact 1/1 replica of it here in the states.

I have no idea why I watched this, I'm not interested in castles, yet still so compelling.
Much <3 from Adelaide
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Shad, we’re going to need you to visit Europe at least once or twice a year to keep this kind of analysis going. We won’t be satisfied until you have done a walkthrough of every large stone building that ever had a crenellation on it. Thanks in advance. 😊

Shad and them castles should do official collabs with the castles and let him go crazy with the exploration and explanations

I'm actually astounded more people haven't heard of Castle Coch. I love to see it on my way to Casnewydd, It's so aesthetically pleasing; especially when you see it through the trees on a Spring day. We have so many beautiful Castles in Cymru. So nice that you're checking them out. Thank you for checking out my (almost perfect) country and giving us the props we deserve; rather than the ambiguity left by England

It's humbling to see the appreciation and gratefulness you exhibit in these videos, shad.

I've never moved out of Mid Wales. The places you've visited thus-far have all been within reasonable travel distance for me, yet I haven't visited them. I've done a few (Carmarthen Castle, Powis Castle, possibly Caernarfon Castle of memory serves), and you've certainly re-invigorated me to go out and explore and support the heritage sites of my country.

A roof over your battlements, just makes sense if you can afford it. It not only provides protection from the weather, (which is good), it also provides protection from arching arrow fire. And the English longbow taught the French to fear archers. But even a wooden roof offers some protection from siege engines.

The whole science and engineering of these castles makes me think, and that's a good thing. Why did they do that? Medieval people weren't stupid, they were just as smart as us. And just as inventive. They just didn't have the knowledge base that we have to work from. But that doesn't mean they weren't very good at what they understood.

Every time I invite someone to see Coch Castle I get sprayed with mace

Yes! More castles!🙌 WE LOVE SHAD'S CASTLE VIDEOS!😁

I like that yall are spacing the castle videos out instead of just spamming them all at once.

About the pipes on the sides that are made of iron: yes, maybe they weren't made of iron in the medieval era, but there certainly could have been a type of pipe perhaps made with lead.
I study Gothic cathedrals from the 1100-1500 era and many of them, especially Italian or Spanish, had pipes around them to drain the rain, and I believe they were made of lead or something like that.
There is some still standing examples on france like Mont Saint Michel abbey that has plenty of these, mainly to collect water to the cisterns.

A Victorian folly to show off and improve his land value, with a welsh name. Not my favourite local castle, that would be Kidwelly, carreg cannen, and dinefwr, if you ever go to a real welsh castle keep an eye out on the wales where there are missing stones, this is where hoardings ( if it by the battlements) or scaffolding was built

I am so glad to see Shad making more content about castles. I can't get enough about castles. They are gorgeous buildings.

I like these castle tours. It's kind of like Shad sharing his holiday videos and also a return to old school Shad.

Thanks Shad, Taking the time to explain the details of the castles you visited is fantastic