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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Caerphilly
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(28,000 in 1991) Town in Mid Glamorgan which dates back to a Roman fort of the 1st century AD. The ruined castle, begun in 1268 by Gilbert de Clare, is the largest in the country after *Windsor. It is also one of the earliest examples in Britain of a concentric castle (copied from those seen by *Crusaders in the Holy Land), in which a stronger ring of inner walls confronts any attacker who has breached the outer defences. Yet another distinction of this castle was the brilliance of its engineering works, the protective lake being formed by a great dam of some 365m/400yd which holds back the Nant-y-Gledyr stream. The southeast tower is famous for a tilt sufficient to rival Pisa, thought to be the result of a failed attempt by the Parliamentarians to blow it up in the *English Civil War.
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