Morlais Castle is a 13th-century castle located above the Taff Gorge near the town of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. [1]
Morlais Castle is a 13th-century castle located above the Taff Gorge near the town of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. [1]
Building of the castle was first begun by Gilbert de Clare, 3rd Earl of Gloucester on land claimed by Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford. Warfare broke out between the Earls in 1290 and they were severely admonished and fined by King Edward I of England, who had to march down from North Wales to intervene. The castle was captured by Madog ap Llywelyn in 1294. [2] The castle is believed to have never been fully completed, and the location was too remote and exposed to serve as a residence. The Bucks' engraving of 1741, however, shows that fragments of the walls then still stood high.
The castle comprised a triangular inner ward with sides about 45m long and an inner bailey 60m wide. The inner ward had a round keep 17m in diameter at the north corner, a D-shaped tower with a staircase on the north side at the SE corner, and a similar tower projected from the south wall. Between the latter two was the gateway. On the west side was a freestanding building about 25m long. It was joined to the south tower by an almost square building. In front of the south tower is a deep pit, presumably the cistern. The outer ward has no towers on the west side, but there is a D-shaped tower at the south-east corner. The latter has a rib-vaulted basement with a central pier and a sharply pointed doorway. Against the east curtain was a large and thickly walled building over 20m long, and on the west is a smaller building. Little remains today, though, with only one room still intact in what would have been the bottom of the main keep, and small walls around the castle give us an idea of where it once stood. The moat stretches around most of the castle, although one side has vanished; this may be because of the lime quarry located there. The 18-hole Morlais Castle golf course is located to one side of the castle.
Pembroke Castle is a medieval castle in the centre of Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in Wales. The castle was the original family seat of the Earldom of Pembroke. A Grade I listed building since 1951, it underwent major restoration during the early 20th century.
Criccieth Castle is a ruined thirteenth-century castle located in Criccieth, Gwynedd, Wales. It is located on a rocky headland overlooking Tremadog Bay and consists of an inner ward almost surrounded by an outer ward. The twin-towered inner gatehouse is the most prominent remaining feature and survives to almost its full height, as does the inner curtain wall. The outer curtain wall and the castle's three towers are significantly more ruinous, and in places survive only as foundations.
White Castle, also known historically as Llantilio Castle, is a ruined castle near the village of Llantilio Crossenny in Monmouthshire, Wales. The fortification was established by the Normans in the wake of the invasion of England in 1066, to protect the route from Wales to Hereford. Possibly commissioned by William fitz Osbern, the Earl of Hereford, it comprised three large earthworks with timber defences. In 1135, a major Welsh revolt took place and in response King Stephen brought together White Castle and its sister fortifications of Grosmont and Skenfrith to form a lordship known as the "Three Castles", which continued to play a role in defending the region from Welsh attack for several centuries.
Merthyr Tydfil is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about 23 miles (37 km) north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of King Brychan of Brycheiniog, who according to legend was slain at Merthyr by pagans about 480 CE. Merthyr generally means "martyr" in modern Welsh, but here closer to the Latin martyrium: a place of worship built over a martyr's relics. Similar place names in south Wales are Merthyr Cynog, Merthyr Dyfan and Merthyr Mawr.
The River Taff is a river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons; the Taf Fechan and the Taf Fawr before becoming one just north of Merthyr Tydfil. Its confluence with the River Severn estuary is in Cardiff.
Ogmore Castle is a Grade I listed castle ruin located near the village of Ogmore-by-Sea, south of the town of Bridgend in Glamorgan, South Wales. It is situated on the south bank of the River Ewenny and the east bank of the River Ogmore.
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.
Ewloe Castle is a native Welsh castle built by the Kingdom of Gwynedd near the town of Ewloe in Flintshire, Wales. The castle, which was one of the last fortifications to be built by the native Princes of Wales, was abandoned at the beginning of the invasion of Wales by Edward I in 1277. Its construction, using locally quarried sandstone, appears to have continued piecemeal over many years and may have not been completed. On taking the castle, the English Crown gave it little military value and allowed it to fall into ruin.
Cooling Castle is a 14th-century quadrangular castle in the village of Cooling, Kent on the Hoo Peninsula about 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Rochester. It was built in the 1380s by the Cobham family, the local lords of the manor, to guard the area against French raids into the Thames Estuary. The castle has an unusual layout, comprising two walled wards of unequal size next to each other, surrounded by moats and ditches. It was the earliest English castle designed for the use of gunpowder weapons by its defenders.
Laugharne Castle is in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The castle, located on the estuary of the River Tâf, was originally established in 1116. It was rebuilt as a Norman stronghold. There have been many alterations since then, including becoming a Tudor fortified manor house in the sixteenth century. It changed hands twice during the English Civil War, being eventually captured by Parliamentary forces in 1644.
Haverfordwest Castle is a castle located in the town centre at Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, south Wales, located in a naturally defensive position at the end of a strong, isolated ridge. The castle was established during Norman times in 1120 but much of the architecture remaining today is dated to 1290. For centuries the castle was an English stronghold. There are several other notable castles in area; Wiston Castle lies 6 miles (9.7 km) to the northeast and Pembroke Castle lies 12 miles (19 km) to the south.
Dryslwyn Castle is a native Welsh castle, sited on a rocky hill roughly halfway between Llandeilo and Carmarthen in Wales. It stands on high ground overlooking the Tywi Valley with extensive views. It was built in about the 1220s by one of the princes of the kingdom of Deheubarth, and changed hands several times in the struggles between the Welsh and English over the ensuing centuries. It is considered one of the most important remaining structures built by a Welsh chieftain and is a Grade I listed building.
Prudhoe Castle is a ruined medieval English castle situated on the south bank of the River Tyne at Prudhoe, Northumberland, England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade I listed building.
Theophilus Aneurin Rees was a Welsh rugby union forward who represented Llandovery College at club level. He was capped once for Wales, in the country's very first international rugby match.
St Quintins Castle is a castle located in the village of Llanblethian, Cowbridge, Wales. It is a scheduled monument and a Grade II* listed building and is under the care of Cadw. The site was first occupied with a defensive structure in about 1102 and the gatehouse and further building work took place around 1312. It was later used as a prison and was reported as being in a ruinous state by 1741.
Penydarren is a community and electoral ward in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales.
Pant is a village and community on the outskirts of Merthyr Tydfil, a large former mining town in the South Wales Valleys, Wales. Pant is notable for being the starting point of the Brecon Mountain Railway, and the site of the former Morlais railway tunnel, which runs underneath the village and emerges in the middle of it. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 2,656.
Cyfarthfa is a community and electoral ward in the west of the town of Merthyr Tydfil in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales.
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. In mid 2018, it had an estimated population of 60,183 making it the smallest local authority in Wales by both population and land area. It is located in the historic county of Glamorgan and takes its name from the town with the same name. The county borough consists of the northern part of the Taff Valley and the smaller neighbouring Taff Bargoed Valley. It borders the counties of Rhondda Cynon Taf to the west, Caerphilly County Borough to the east, and Powys to the north.
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