The historic Denbigh Castle continues to grow in popularity.

Visitor numbers to the castle, built by Edward I from 1282, were the highest they have been in more than three years with 11,356 people through the medieval archways in 2018 compared to 11,105 in 2017.

As a result of the higher visitor numbers there was a very slight in increase in visitor admission income, up to £21,517 from £21,508 in 2017.

The castle was built following Edward's campaign to conquer Welsh strongholds at the end of the 13th century. In doing so, he made sure all traces of Dafydd ap Gruffudd, the previous incumbent in Denbigh, were removed forever.

A Welsh rebellion in 1294 was led by Madog ap Llywelyn and captured the partly-built castle but Edward’s power and the castle-building programme were soon restored.

Overall, Cadw sites in the area recorded a slight decrease in numbers with visitor numbers down from 796,936 in 2017 to 793,911.

Although there was an increase in visitor admission income up to £3,501,612 from £3,494,766 in 2017.

Despite the overall drop in numbers a Cadw spokesperson said there were many different factors that affected visitors to their sites in 2018.

The spokesperson said: "It’s hard to draw conclusions that apply to all North Wales sites for 2018, as there are so many different factors at play.

"For example, only staffed sites are captured here (including non-paid visitors), those that had the dragons exhibits in 2017 have seen a drop, those near the beach have seen a drop due to the warm weather and some of them have altered their opening times so aren’t comparable.

"We also have extensive renovations ongoing at Conwy and a few other sites which may put people off.

"Likewise, some positive things have effected some of the sites, such as Beaumaris Castle which has benefitted from a rise in cruise ship passengers and we are competition with the increasing number of world class attractions in North Wales."