A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to build with unskilled labour, but still militarily formidable, these castles were built across northern Europe from the 10th century onwards, spreading from Normandy and Anjou in France, into the Holy Roman Empire in the 11th century. The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales. Motte-and-bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, the Low Countries and Denmark in the 12th and 13th centuries. Windsor Castle, in England, is an example of a motte-and-bailey castle. By the end of the 13th century, the design was largely superseded by alternative forms of fortification, but the earthworks remain a prominent feature in many countries.
Rhuddlan is a town, community, and electoral ward in the county of Denbighshire, Wales, in the historic county of Flintshire. Its associated urban zone is mainly on the right bank of the Clwyd; it is directly south of seafront town Rhyl. It gave its name to the Welsh district of Rhuddlan from 1974 to 1996. As of the 2001 census, the population was 4,296 decreasing to 3,709 in the 2011 census.
Aberystwyth Castle is a Grade I listed Edwardian fortress located in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Mid Wales. It was built in response to the First Welsh War in the late 13th century, replacing an earlier fortress located a mile to the south. During a national uprising by Owain Glyndŵr, the Welsh captured the castle in 1404, but it was recaptured by the English four years later. In 1637 it became a Royal mint by Charles I, and produced silver shillings. The castle was slighted by Oliver Cromwell in 1649.
Trecastle is a village in Powys, Wales, situated on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park (Welsh: Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) and in the community of Llywel. The village has a population of about 200.
Sycharth is a motte and bailey castle and town in Llansilin, Powys, Wales. Until 1996 Sycharth was in the historic county of Denbighshire, but was then transferred to the Shire area of Montgomeryshire within Powys. Sycharth Castle was the birthplace of Owain Glyndŵr.
Wiston Castle is a motte and bailey castle in the Pembrokeshire village of Wiston in south west Wales and is one of the best examples of its type in Wales. The castle and village were founded by Wizo, a Flemish settler who was granted the land by Henry I of England after he had wrested control from the previous owner, Arnulf de Montgomery. The castle was captured by the Welsh on several occasions but on each occasion it was retaken. It was abandoned during the thirteenth century when the then owner moved to nearby Picton Castle.
Rhuddlan Castle is a castle located in Rhuddlan, Denbighshire, Wales. It was erected by Edward I in 1277, following the First Welsh War.
Llawhaden Castle grid reference SN 073175 is a ruined castle in Llawhaden, Pembrokeshire, Wales, 10 miles (16 km) east of Haverfordwest. A motte-and-bailey castle is thought to have previously occupied the site and the present structure was built by the bishops of the Diocese of St David in the 13th century. The castle was abandoned in the 16th century and some of the stone was removed for local building projects. The site is privately owned by the Lord of the Manor of Llawhaden and managed by Cadw.
Loughor Castle is a ruined, medieval fortification located in the town of Loughor, Wales. The castle was built around 1106 by the Anglo-Norman lord Henry de Beaumont, during the Norman invasion of Wales. The site overlooked the River Loughor and controlled a strategic road and ford running across the Gower Peninsula. The castle was designed as an oval ringwork, probably topped by wicker fence defences, and reused the remains of the former Roman fort of Leucarum.
Hen Domen Welsh, meaning "old mound", is the site of a medieval timber motte-and-bailey castle in Powys, Wales. It is the site of the original Montgomery Castle, and was built by Roger de Montgomery in 1070. From 1105 the castle was the home of the de Boulers (Bowdler) family, and it is from Baldwin de Boulers that Montgomery gets its Welsh name, Trefaldwyn "The Town of Baldwin". When the castle was rebuilt in stone (1223–1234), it was decided to rebuild it on a rocky promontory a mile to the south-east – the location of the current town of Montgomery, Powys. The Hen Domen site has been extensively excavated.
Mold Castle, also known as Bailey Hill in the town of Mold, Flintshire, north-east Wales, is a motte-and-bailey castle erected around 1072, probably by the Norman Robert de Montalt under instructions from Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester. Little remains except the mound on which the motte was built. It stands close to the 15th-century parish church, St Mary's Church near the centre of the town.
Castell Gwallter, also known as Walter's Castle and sometimes Castell Penweddig, is the remains of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle situated on a large hill above the old village of Llandre in northern Ceredigion, Wales, four miles northeast of Aberystwyth.
Pen y Clawdd Castle is a ditched mound with a double moat, roughly circular in shape, with a diameter of approximately 28m to 30m and about 2.4m high. The castle is in Llanvihangel Crucorney, about five miles to the north of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, in south east Wales and lies between the Usk and Monnow rivers. The mound was designated a scheduled monument in 1950 and described as a defensive medieval motte.
Prestatyn Castle is a motte and bailey castle in Prestatyn, Wales, built in 1157 on land granted to the Norman lord Robert Banastre by King Henry II of England. It was built on level ground on the coastal plain and commanded an extensive view. Nowadays the mound and slight remnants of a causeway are all that is visible.
Caernarfon Castle – often anglicised as Carnarvon Castle or Caernarvon Castle – is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. It was a motte-and-bailey castle from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began to replace it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales, and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past, and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
Tregrug Castle or Llangibby Castle is a ruin in Monmouthshire, Wales, located about 1 mile (1.5 km) to the north of the village of Llangybi, close to the settlement of Tregrug.
Banc y Betws or Betws Castle, is a motte and scheduled ancient monument in Wales. It is located in Llangyndeyrn, in the Gwendraith Valley in Carmarthenshire, Wales; map grid SN458154. All that is visible of the structure nowadays is a mound capped with trees and the remains of the ditch that surrounded it.
Twmpath Castle, also known as Twmpath Motte, is a medieval motte on the southern slope of Wenallt Hill near Rhiwbina in Cardiff, Wales, which is a scheduled monument.
Morganstown Castle Mound, also known as Morganstown Motte, is a medieval motte in the community of Morganstown in Cardiff, Wales, which is a scheduled monument.
Ruperra Motte, also known as Craig Ruperra Motte, is a medieval motte and bailey castle in the community of Rudry close to the village of Draethen in the Caerphilly County Borough on the border with Newport in south west Wales. It is a Scheduled Monument within the Grade II listed Registered Historic Park & Garden, which also includes Ruperra Castle.
