Welsh heartland before Edward I

Rhuddlan lies some distance from the open coast, but its deep river gives it maritime access. The location had also been a centre of power in northeast Wales under Gruffudd ap Llywelyn. He is presented as a ruler who had brought Wales under his authority before his death in 1063. The following two centuries brought repeated disputes over Welsh rule before Edward I's campaign in 1277. Rhuddlan became a contested location between the princes of Gwynedd and the Earls of Chester during Norman expansion. Taking the site therefore secured both a useful river connection and a place with a long history of regional authority.