List of castles in Wales

Caernarfon Castle

Dolbadarn Castle

This is a list of castles in Wales, sometimes called the "castle capital of the world" in view of their high density.^[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.[5]
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.[6]
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.[7]
Llangynwyd Castle			12th century	Fragmentary remains		At Llangynwyd the remains of a once splendid medieval fortress are now reduced to scanty ruins and earthworks.[8]
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.[9]

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.[10]
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.[11]
Morgraig Castle			13th century	Fragmentary remains		Castell Morgraig was built by the Anglo-Norman de Clare lords of Glamorgan, sometime after 1243 and before 1267, when it was abandoned unfinished as the de Clares defeated the last Welsh native lord in the area and started building Caerphilly nearby.[12]

Cardiff

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Cardiff Castle		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.[13]
Castell Coch		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.[14]
St Fagans Castle		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.[15]

Carmarthenshire

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Carreg Cennen Castle		Enclosure castle	13th century	Ruined	Cadw	Magnificently set castle, high on a limestone precipice. A vaulted passage runs from the SE corner to a cave below E outer ward.[16]
Carmarthen Castle		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.[17]
Dinefwr Castle			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.[18]
Dryslwyn Castle			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.[19]
Kidwelly Castle			12th century and earlier		Cadw
Laugharne Castle			13th century		Cadw
Llandovery Castle			11th century
Llansteffan Castle			12th century		Cadw
Castell Moel			16th century
Newcastle Emlyn Castle			13th & 15th century

Ceredigion

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Aberdyfi Castle			12th century
Aberystwyth			13th century
Caerwedros Castle			12th century
Cardigan Castle			13th century		Ceredigion County Council
Castell Cadwgan, Aberaeron			12th century
Dinerth Castle			12th century
Gwallter Castle			12th century
Lampeter Castle			12th century
Llanrhystud Castle			11th century
Ystrad Meurig Castle			12th Century
Ystrad Peithyll Castle			12th Century

Conwy

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Conwy Castle			13th century		Cadw
Deganwy Castle			13th century
Dolwyddelan Castle			13th century		Cadw
Gwrych Castle			19th century		Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust
Gwydir Castle			16th century		Private

Denbighshire

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Bodelwyddan Castle			19th century (Originally 15th)
Denbigh Castle			13th -14th century		Cadw
Dinas Brân			12th century
Dyserth Castle			13th century
Rhuddlan Castle			13th century		Cadw
Ruthin Castle			13th century		Hotel
Twthill, Rhuddlan			11th century		Cadw
Prestatyn Castle			12th century Motte & Bailey castle

Flintshire

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Caergwrle Castle			13th century		Cadw
Ewloe Castle			12th century		Cadw
Flint Castle			13th century		Cadw
Hawarden Castle			13th century
New Hawarden Castle			18th century
Mold Castle			12th century

Gwynedd

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Bryn Bras Castle			19th century
Caernarfon Castle			13th century	Ruined, with partial restoration	Cadw
Carndochan Castle			13th century
Castell y Bere			13th century		Cadw
Criccieth Castle			13th century		Cadw
Dinas Emrys			12th century keep on early medieval site
Dolbadarn Castle			13th century		Cadw
Harlech Castle			13th century		Cadw
Penrhyn Castle			19th century	Intact	National Trust

Isle of Anglesey

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Castell Aberlleiniog			12th century
Beaumaris Castle			13th century		Cadw

Merthyr Tydfil

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

Monmouthshire

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Abergavenny Castle			11th to 13th century
Betws Newydd			Castle 11th century
Caldicot Castle			12th to 15th century
Castell Arnold			12th century			Near Llanover
Chepstow Castle			11th to 14th century		Cadw
Dingestow Castle			11th and 12th century			Two castles, one 11th century the other 12th
Grosmont Castle			12th to 14th century		Cadw
Llanfair Kilgeddin Castle			11th century
Llangibby Castle			13th century
Llantrisant, Monmouthshire Castell Troggy			13th century
Llanvair Discoed Castle			12th to 13th century
Monmouth Castle			11th to 13th century		Cadw
Newcastle			11th century
Penrhos Castle			11th century
Pen y Clawdd Castle			11th century			Near Abergavenny
Raglan Castle			15th century		Cadw
Skenfrith Castle			12th to 13th century		Cadw
Trellech Castle			12th century
Usk Castle			12th to 14th century
White Castle			11th to 13th century		Cadw

Neath Port Talbot

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Neath Castle			12th century		Neath Town Council

Newport

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

Pembrokeshire

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Benton Castle[20]			no date
Carew Castle			11th to 16th century		Private / Open to the public
Cilgerran Castle			13th century		Cadw
Haverfordwest Castle			12th century
Llawhaden Castle			12th to 14th century		Cadw
Manorbier Castle			12th to 14th century		Private / Open to the public
Narberth Castle			13th century
Pembroke Castle			12th & 13th century		Private / Open to the public
Picton Castle			12th century		Picton Castle Trust
Roch Castle			12th century		Private
Tenby Castle			13th century
Upton Castle			13th century		Private
Wiston Castle			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
Aberedw Castle			11th to 13th century			Two castles, one 11th and one 13th century
Blaenllyfni Castle			13th century
Brecon Castle			11th century		Hotel
Bronllys Castle			12th century		Cadw
Crickhowell Castle			12th century
Dolforwyn Castle			13th century		Cadw
Hay Castle			11th or 12th century		Hay Castle Trust
Maesllwch Castle			19th century		Private	19th-century house in castellated style
Montgomery Castle			13th century		Cadw
Powis Castle			12th to 19th century		National Trust
Tretower Castle			12th century		Cadw

Rhondda Cynon Taf

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

Swansea

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

Vale of Glamorgan

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

Name	Image	Type	Date	Condition	Ownership / Access	Notes
Barry Castle			13th - 14th century		Cadw
Fonmon Castle			14th century		Private
Hensol Castle			18th century		Private
Ogmore Castle			12th century		Cadw
Old Beaupre Castle			16th century		Cadw
Penmark Castle			12th century
St Donat's Castle			12th century		Atlantic College
St Quintins Castle			14th century		Cadw

Wrexham

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

See also

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

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Castles in Wales.

• Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service Cadw
• Coflein, the database of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales
• Castles of Wales website
• Castle UK: Wales
• eCastles
• CastleStories - Google Map Explorer