After the English Civil War started in 1642, people who supported Charles I of England took over the castle. They stayed there until 1646, which was when the Roundheads took it from them. When that war ended, the government partially destroyed the castle, so no one would use it. By 1665 it was completely destroyed because people had taken all of the iron and lead from the castle and sold it. Artists started making paintings of the castle in the 18th and 19th centuries. People started visiting it on vacation and it is now ran by Cadw.