Castle and town as one lordship

Denbigh was a fortified town as well as a castle. Henry de Lacy created a chartered settlement whose walls were as important as the castle walls because both secured the area. The unfinished stronghold fell during the 1294 rising despite de Lacy's attempt to relieve it and was not recovered until December. Its position at the centre of the lordship explains why Edward wanted a powerful noble to develop it as a regional hub. Castle building here was a form of government, intended to produce stable borders and dependable local authority while the king faced pressures involving France, Scotland, and Wales.