Carndochan Castle (Welsh: Castell Carndochan) is a ruined stone castle near Llanuwchllyn, Gwynedd, north Wales. It was probably built in the early thirteenth century and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
| Carndochan Castle | |
|---|---|
| Llanuwchllyn, Gwynedd, Wales | |
 | |
  Carndochan Castle | |
| Coordinates | 52°51′40″N 3°42′50″W / 52.86105°N 3.71391°W |
| Type | Castle |
| Site information | |
| Condition | Ruins |
| Site history | |
| Built by | Llywelyn ap Iorwerth? |
| Official name | Castell Carn Dochan |
| Reference no. | ME049 |
History
editThe castle stands on a ridge overlooking the Lliw Valley; its early history is unrecorded, but it is thought to have been built by Prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth between 1215 and 1230 or Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd.[1] Little is known of the site's history although King Edward I of England visited in 1283–84.[2]
Description
editBuilt in typical Welsh style, it consisted of a D-shaped tower on its western end with smaller round or semi-round towers surrounding a small ward and square central tower.[3] The apsidal tower survives up to a height of 8 feet (2.4 m) and used a different source of lime for its coursed mortar, which may indicate that it was built at a different time than the rest of the structure.
Two of the other towers are dry stone-built and resemble to those at Cam Fadryn and Pen y Castell. A preliminary 2015 excavation in the southern part of the castle revealed the entrance, a small half-round tower and a length of curtain wall. The excavation recovered two pieces of charcoal that radiocarbon dating yielded dates of 1170–1258 for one and 1220–1271 for the other.[2]
It is not known when or why Carndochan was abandoned, although unsubstantiated excavations by nineteenth-century archaeologists apparently discovered substantial amounts of ash under the ruins, suggesting the castle was either sacked or demolished (often termed slighting).[4] Today, the site is protected as a scheduled monument.[2]
References
edit- ^ The Castles of the Lords and Princes of Wales, Cadw, Welsh Government, p. 12
- ^ a b c "Castell Carndochan, Dolhendre". Regional Historic Environment Record. Gwynedd Archaeological Trust. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
- ^ A.H.A. Hogg, 'Castell Carndochan', Journal of the Merioneth Historical and Record Society Vol. 2, pp. 179–80 (1953-6).
- ^ W. Hughes, 'Llanuwchllyn', Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 40, p. 189–90 (1885).
Further reading
edit- Hopewell, David (2020). "Castell Carndochan: survey and excavation 2014–17". Archaeologia Cambrensis. 169: 177–207.
External links
edit
Media related to Carndochan Castle at Wikimedia Commons
