Days Off are for Castles!

At the end of my home street in America is a mountain. It's a great place to hike and walk your dogs. People from all over the town climb on this mountain from various entry points. It is rare to spend some time up there and not see another person. If something as simple as a mountain is so popular...why isn't this castle in Swansea?

How can people ignore this?

Oystermouth Castle lays nestled on a beautiful green hill at the end of a residential street. Next to it is a lush green area where kids were playing and people took there dogs. Seemingly, this tiny park is more magnificent and useful than a freaking castle.

They build the stairway to impress upon people that there actually was a castle there. They just don't notice it. Also, in case you were wondering where the flag is, it blew away ten days before. It was how they let people know the castle was open.

This is on the right side of the circular opening at the front of the previous picture.

On Wednesday, I went with a group of international girls to see this castle on our day off. Unlike the residents of Swansea, we do notice it. And the people who volunteer there could not have been more pleased to see a group of international university students take interest in their big project (they restored it a few years back, making it safe again for visitors). From their website (click the link for more history): 

"In autumn of 2010 work began to undertake essential works to conserve the castle structure. The £3.1 million partnership project has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Welsh Government Cadw and Visit Wales, European Regional Development Funding (ERDF) and the City and County of Swansea with great support from the Friends of Oystermouth Castle, a locally formed volunteer group.

"12th -14th century Oystermouth Castle has long been a forgotten rotting historic monument which in its past has seen the likes of Kings, Lords and Ladies residing within its thick stone walls. Originally built as a stronghold and to keep people out, 2010 marked a new era in the history of the castle."

The original plan was to bike over to the castle from the school. This created a lot of anxiety for me since I had never learned to ride a bike when I was smaller. When I grew up, time seemed to get away from me and while I am technically capable, I am not very good. Certainly not proficient enough to attempt along a main road. 

Finally, I messaged one of the girls privately and she understood. I told her I could bus over on my own while they biked.

 

It was my first time navigating the bus system on my own. I may have ridden the bus by myself before, but it was always to the same place and someone had shown me how to get there previously. With google maps in hand, I managed to figure out which bus to take and at what time. Although everyone tells you that the bus systems are on-par in Europe, Swansea's can still be notoriously late. When I did board, I was nervous that somehow I missed the first bus and this was a different one taking me to the wrong place.

 

I tracked the bus on the phone GPS throughout the ride to make sure it was going to the right place. It said "Oystermouth" on the front of it (on the screen where they put the intended destination), but somehow that wasn't enough for me. It wrapped all around the suburban streets so as to allow people to get back home. 

Although I was worried the entire time, I did eventually get to the right spot. Funnily enough, once I was there I received a message saying that the group was unable to get the bikes from the school and would be busing over. They wanted to know if I was still at the school to go with them. Unfortunately not.

It didn't bother me too much, though. I was proud of myself and my navigational skills, even if I was helped by the internet. This also gave me some extra time to walk around mumbles and check out some of the shops.

 Before the others arrived at the castle, I was greeted by one of the volunteers. He and his fellow volunteer were Swansea University alumni and offered a discount to me and the others (once they arrived) since we went to their old school and they were happy to have us there. Also, he offered to show us around and tour the castle for us.

When the others showed shortly after, they too were happy to have someone tell us about the history of the castle and explain to us what all of the ruins meant. He initially took us to the chapel. During the restoration process, they added a bridge made of thick glass that led to it.

"Confessionals"

All of these windows would have been made of stained glass. There are even ridges in the sides where the glass would have gone to prove this.

This was the main lookout for the chapel. Originally it was filled with color and stained glass. The owners wanted it to be as beautiful as possible and offer it as a gift to God so that he may forgive them of their sins. My art history class taught me that this was a very common practice.

In case putting stained glass on this window seems like a waste of a good seaside view, fear not.

At the time, there was no sea to look at. He told us that ever city has a sunken village, and this is Swansea's.

This was the next room he took us to. During it's prime, this would have a fire lit to keep them warm and would likely be adorned with beautiful furniture and decor.

Remnants of a fireplace.

We were lucky that Swansea was still experiencing sun as it really made the place look beautiful. Our group was also fortunate to have a tour guide whose pure passion for the place flowed through every word that he said. He even told us about his book, which is a historical fiction piece based in this castle.

The view from that window.

He informed us that every proper castle needs a cavern, and this is Oystermouth's. There were other dark places, but most of them had bats and therefore we were not allowed to enter them.

Not good if you are claustrophobic.

The man with the green binder was our tour guide.

Believed to be the old whipping post. Tales formed of the white lady, a ghost with tattered clothes and back full of lashings came to be associated with this. But that is only hearsay; this is a structural beam.

The whipping post is below it somewhere in here.

This room also had a lot of pigeon feathers on the ground. He told us that was from the cat hunting them. They cause diseases and are therefore a danger if you have too many of them nesting in an old castle. If it gets too bad, they need to bring in hawks to kill them, but that costs £50 a day, and so they do not like to do it too often.

The castle is made of limestone, which can corrode. They needed help restoring it from safety experts, as this can get in your eyes and blind you, or in your lungs and kill you. Safe to be around, just don't try to sand it down.

We had some time after his tour to do any last exploring we wanted to do of the castle. Today was the last day of the season, and so I wanted to make sure I took it all in as it would not be open again until April. And by then it might be rainy again.

However, all there really was left was walking along the battlement (the walkway along the top).

It offered some amazing views.

When the Olympic torch comes around, this is what they light.

It is hard to imagine knights walking along this looking for potential intruders as there is only suburbia on the outside. Apparently if it ever were attacked, it was very defend-able with death ceilings that would pour boiling water on enemies as well extremely thick walls.

It was an amazing trip. One of the girls said she even enjoyed it more than she enjoyed Cardiff castle.

The day was still young after touring the castle, and it was time for lunch. The next stop was Pub on the Pond, which is right next to Swansea University. I personally did not get anything to drink (save for tap water, which they put a lime slice in), but a couple of the girls who were full time Swansea students ordered cider. I still haven't conceptualized the fact that I am legal to drink alcohol. Additionally, there has not been any desire for it. And it's expensive.

What I was looking forward to was bangers and mash. They called it sausages and mash on the menu, but I knew what it really was. I refused to get it in the states as I wanted to get the real deal in the UK. Definitely worth the wait!