Occasionally one can see a castle that uses a tiled roof such as Cliffords Tower at York or Castle Rising in Norfolk but these are usually later additions. From these points so far we see that Castell Coch has an authenticity in its elements but not as a whole.
Burges used the castles; Chateau de Chillon on Lake Geneva, and L'Aigle, both in Switzerland, as reference and that is probably where many of the more European elements came from. Chillon shows the same extensive amount of roofing, both straight and conical, as can be seen at Castell Coch, with embrasures below but not of the same distancing or size. L'Aigles walls and towers show an even closer resemblance, they are higher and the towers plain but they work together much as they do at Castell Coch. The conical roofs at L'Aigle have a double slant that does not feature at Castell Coch but was considered for the well tower in the original drawings.
European influences in Medieval Wales
The original Castell Coch was built in the late Thirteenth Century, the same period that saw Edward I's castles built in North Wales. The mason employed by Edward, Master James of St. George, used his Savoyard skills on Edward's castles that show not in the overall designs but in the architectural details such as the arches in the windows. Chillon has these same Savoyard details as does L'Aigle which means that Master James of St. George had already brought these Swiss influences to Wales in the building of Edward's castles.
