List of castles in Wales explained

Wales is sometimes called the "castle capital of the world" because of the large number of castles in a relatively small area.^{[1] [2]} Wales had about 600 castles,^[3] of which over 100 are still standing, either as ruins or as restored buildings. The rest have returned to nature, and today consist of ditches, mounds, and earthworks, often in commanding positions. Many of the sites in Wales are cared for by Cadw, the Welsh government's historic environment service.

The four castles of Beaumaris, Caernarfon, Conwy, and Harlech together make up the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd World Heritage Site, considered to be the "finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe".^[4]

Bridgend

Castles of which only earthworks, fragments, or nothing remains include:

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Candleston Castle		Fortified manor house	14th century	Ruined		Only the tower remains of a C14 fortified manor house built by the de Cantelupes.
Coity Castle		Keep and bailey	12th - 14th centuries	Ruined	Cadw	Prominently sited above Heol West Plas, Coity Castle was founded in the early twelfth century and was granted to the Norman family of Turberville.
Kenfig Castle		Keep and bailey	12th century	Fragmentary remains		The scanty remains of Kenfig Castle, a once great medieval fortress, rise from the dunes beside the Cynfig river.
Llangynwyd Castle			12th century	Fragmentary remains		At Llangynwyd the remains of a once splendid medieval fortress are now reduced to scanty ruins and earthworks.
Newcastle		Enclosure castle	12th century	Ruined	Cadw	The castle's most outstanding feature is its complete Norman doorway, which greets the visitor approaching the castle from the south.

Caerphilly

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Caerphilly Castle		Concentric castle	13th - 14th century	Ruined, with partial restoration	Cadw	Caerphilly is the largest medieval castle in Wales and one of the most impressive in Europe.
Morgraig Castle		Enclosure castle	13th century	Fragmentary remains		Built between 1243 and 1267, the form of the castle is unusual and has no comparisons elsewhere. Debate has centred on whether the castle was built by the Welsh Lords of Senghenydd, or by the Norman Lords of Glamorgan.^[5]
Ruperra Castle		Mock castle	17th century	Ruined	Private	Built c1626 by Sir Thomas Morgan, steward to the Earl of Pembroke, and the latest example of the Elizabethan and Jacobean court taste for castellated mansions.
Ruperra Motte		Motte and bailey	12th century	Ruined, with partial restoration	Ruperra Conservation Trust	The site includes remains of a medieval castle motte on a much earlier Iron Age hillfort.

Cardiff

Castles of which only earthworks or nothing remains include:

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
		Shell Keep	11th century	Ruined, with partial restoration	Cardiff Council	Cardiff Castle was established within the walls of a mighty Roman fort by William I of England in about 1081.
		Gothic Revival	19th century (Originally 11th century)	Intact	Cadw	Castell Coch, located on a prominent wooded hillside overlooking the Taff Valley and the northern part of Cardiff, is a remarkable blend of solid medieval masonry and High Victorian Gothic fantasy.
		Enclosure castle	13th century	Ruined	National Museum Wales	The remains of the medieval castle at St Fagans include the southern part of a stone curtain wall. The enclosure is currently overlain by an Elizabethan mansion, with part of the surviving curtain serving to define its forecourt.
		Concentric castle	13th century	Ruined	Cardiff Council	Bishop's Palace is also known as Llandaff Castle or Bishop's Castle^[6]

Carmarthenshire

Castles of which only earthworks or nothing remains include:^[7]

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
		Shell Keep	11th century	Ruined	Carmarthenshire Council	Remains of the high medieval castle, including a shell keep, gatehouse and two towers, are obscured by modern buildings, notably County Hall.
		Enclosure castle	13th century	Ruined	Cadw	Spectacularly set on a crag over the upper Cennen valley. A vaulted passage runs from the SE corner to a cave below E outer ward.
			12th century		Cadw	Dinefwr castle is thought to have been founded in the later twelfth century by Rhys ap Gruffudd, the Lord Rhys, and became known as the traditional capital of Dyfed.
			13th century		Cadw	The shattered ruins of a medieval castle crown the ultimate summit of a dramatically isolated and abrupt hill rising from the Tywi floodplain.
			12th century and earlier		Cadw	Kidwelly Castle is an imposing ruin, situated on a scarp above the upper tidal limit of the Gwendraeth Fach Estuary, and considered one of the finest castles in Wales.
			13th century		Cadw	The castle of Laugharne was built by the Anglo-Normans in the early twelfth century and is probably mentioned in 1116, but the existing ruins are thirteenth century and later.
			11th century			Llandovery Castle is a motte and bailey castle first mentioned in 1113. Extensive remains of masonry walls and towers occupy the motte, and a shell keep enclosure is represented by half-buried footings.
			12th century		Cadw	Prominently situated on a rocky promontery, overlooking the mouth of the Tywi. Substantial and impressive remains of a rubble masonry castle dating from the C12 to C15.
			16th century			Shattered ruins of a possibly 16th but probably 17th century house ruins; an early wing was incorporated into large cruciform renaissance house.
			13th & 15th century			Shattered ruins remain of Newcastle Emlyn Castle. Excavation through the 1980s have revealed some details, but the castle is best known from a collection of medieval accounts and surveys.

Ceredigion

Castles of which only earthworks or nothing remains include:^[8]

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
		Concentric castle	13th century	Ruined	Aberystwyth Town Council	Work on Aberystwyth Castle commenced in 1277 under Edward I and was completed in 1289. The castle remains have been much restored and now form part of a public park.
			13th century		Ceredigion County Council	Situated on promontory overlooking Cardigan Bridge. Portions of the curtain wall survive in the tall embankment overlooking the bridge. There are remains of three semi-circular towers, the largest & most elaborate incorporated into the early C19 Castle Green House

Conwy

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
			13th century	Ruined, with partial restoration	Cadw
			13th century	Earthworks remain
			13th century	Partially ruinous	Cadw
			19th century	Derelict, being restored	Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust	Mock Gothic
			16th century	Intact	Private

Denbighshire

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
			19th century (Originally 15th)
			13th -14th century		Cadw
			12th century
			13th century
			13th century		Cadw
			13th century		Hotel
			11th century		Cadw
			12th century Motte & Bailey castle

Flintshire

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
			13th century		Cadw
			12th century		Cadw
			13th century		Cadw
			13th century
			18th century
			12th century

Gwynedd

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
			19th century
			13th century	Ruined, with partial restoration	Cadw
			13th century
			13th century		Cadw
			13th century		Cadw
			12th century keep on early medieval site
			13th century		Cadw
			13th century		Cadw
			19th century	Intact	National Trust

Isle of Anglesey

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
			12th century
			13th century		Cadw

Merthyr Tydfil

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
			13th century
			19th century

Monmouthshire

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
			11th to 13th century
			Castle 11th century
			12th to 15th century
			12th century			Near Llanover
			11th to 14th century		Cadw
			11th and 12th century			Two castles, one 11th century the other 12th
			12th to 14th century		Cadw
			11th century
			13th century
Llanvair Discoed Castle			12th to 13th century
			11th to 13th century		Cadw
			11th century
			11th century
			11th century			Near Abergavenny
			15th century		Cadw
			12th to 13th century		Cadw
Tregrug Castle			13th century
			12th century
			12th to 14th century
			11th to 13th century		Cadw

Neath Port Talbot

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Margam Castle			19th century		Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
			12th century		Neath Town Council

Newport

Castle with only earthworks, Wentloog Castle.

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
			11th to 13th century
			13th century		Cadw
Pencoed Castle			13th century
			12th century

Pembrokeshire

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Benton Castle^[9]			no date
			11th to 16th century		Private / Open to the public
			13th century		Cadw
			12th century
			12th to 14th century		Cadw
			12th to 14th century		Private / Open to the public
Narberth Castle			13th century
Newport Castle			19th century
			12th & 13th century		Private / Open to the public
			12th century		Picton Castle Trust
			12th century		Private
			13th century
Upton Castle			13th century		Private
			12th century		Cadw
Wolf's Castle		Motte and bailey	11th century

Powys

Castles of which only earthworks, fragments or nothing remains include:

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
			11th to 13th century			Two castles, one 11th and one 13th century
			13th century
Brecon Castle			11th century		Hotel
Bronllys Castle			12th century		Cadw
Cefnllys Castle		Hill castle	12th century	Fragmentary remains		Three castles, an 11th century motte and bailey followed by two 13th century masonry castles.
			12th century
			13th century		Cadw
Hay Castle			11th or 12th century		Hay Castle Trust
Llanthomas Castle Mound			11th or 12th century		Private
			19th century		Private	19th-century house in castellated style
			13th century		Cadw
			12th to 19th century		National Trust
			12th century		Cadw

Rhondda Cynon Taf

Castles of which only earthworks, fragments or nothing remains include:

Swansea

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Loughor Castle			12th century		Cadw
			16th century		Cadw
			12th & 13th century		City and County of Swansea Council
			12th century		Pennard Golf Course
			13th century		Private
Swansea Castle			12th century		Cadw
			13th century		Cadw

Vale of Glamorgan

Castles of which only earthworks, fragments or nothing remains include:

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
			13th - 14th century		Cadw
			14th century		Private
			18th century		Private
			12th century		Cadw
			16th century		Cadw
Penmark Castle			12th century
			12th century		Atlantic College
			14th century		Cadw

Wrexham

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
			13th century		National Trust
			13th century

See also

• List of castles
• Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
• Castles in England
• Castles in Scotland
• Castles in Northern Ireland
• Castles in the Isle of Man

References

1. Web site: The Less Traveled Britain: 5 Reasons to Visit Wales. independenttraveler.com. 18 June 2012.
2. Web site: Wales: The Castle Capital of the World. Travelblog.com. 12 August 2016.
3. Web site: Castle country. Wales.com. Welsh Government. 5 August 2019.
4. Web site: Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd. 15 November 2012 . UNESCO.
5. Iorweth. Dylan. The Mystery at Morgraig. Heritage in Wales . 1997. 7. 17–19. (reproduced in the Castle Studies Group newsletter Vol. 11 p. 35-39)
6. Web site: Llandaff. . 7 June 2022.
7. Book: King, D.J.C. . 1983 . Castellarium Anglicanum: An Index and Bibliography of the Castles in England, Wales and the Islands . London . Kraus International Publications . 978-0-527-50110-5.
8. Book: King, D.J.C. . 1983 . Castellarium Anglicanum: An Index and Bibliography of the Castles in England, Wales and the Islands . London . Kraus International Publications . 978-0-527-50110-5.
9. Alan Reid, Castles of Wales, 2nd ed.(Ruthin: John Jones Publishing Ltd. 1999)

External links

• Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service Cadw
• Coflein, the database of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales