The Leaning Tower

On the way back from a call out, I drove through Caerphilly past the castle. It was a delightful day and I thought it'd be good to get a photo.

The blip foto shows the famous leaning tower which is actually listed in Wikiepedia under leaning towers around the world.

The castle was finished in 1290. Here's the history behind the leaning tower:

After 1486, the castle went into decline, eclipsed by the more fashionable residence of Cardiff Castle; once the sluice-gates fell into disrepair, the water defences probably drained away.
Antiquarian John Leland visited Caerphilly Castle around 1539, and described it as having "waulles of a wonderful thiknes", but beyond a tower used to hold prisoners it was in ruins and surrounded by marshland.

In 1583 the castle was leased to Thomas Lewis, who stripped it of much of its stone to extend his house, causing extensive damage.

In 1642 the English Civil War broke out between the Royalist supporters of Charles I and those of Parliament. South Wales was predominantly Royalist in sympathy, and during the conflict, a sconce, or small fort, was built overlooking Caerphilly Castle to the north-west, on the site of the old Roman fort. It is uncertain if this was built by Royalist forces or by the Parliamentary army that occupied the area during the final months of the war in March 1646, but the fort's guns would have dominated the interior of the castle.

It is also uncertain whether or not Caerphilly Castle was deliberately slighted by Parliament to prevent its future use as a fortification. Although several towers had collapsed by the 18th century, possibly as a result of such an operation, it is probable that this deterioration was actually the result of subsidence damage caused when the water defences retreated, as there is no evidence of deliberate destruction having been ordered.