Caernarfon Castle was the ancient centre of Gwynedd, and after his victory over the last prince of Wales in 1283, Edward I began the greatest of his Welsh castles, which was to be both an imperial fortress and a seat of government. The Eagle Tower shown here takes its name from the fragmentary stone eagles crowning its three turrets, and almost certainly designed for the Constable of Caernarfon. Although never finished, the castle remained in use under the Tudors, but by the time Ibbetson toured North and West Wales in the summer of 1792 it had been in ruin for nearly two centuries.