Carndochan Castle
Encyclopedia
Carndochan Castle is a stone castle near Bala
in Gwynedd
, north Wales
built in the thirteenth century. Its early history is unrecorded, and it would seem to have been built by one of the three major princes of Wales
to have governed in the thirteenth century, Llywelyn Fawr, Dafydd ap Llywelyn
, or Llywelyn the Last
.
Built in typical Welsh style, it consisted of a D-shaped tower with smaller round or semi-round towers surrounding a small ward and central keep
, and was built to guard the southern borders of the kingdom of Gwynedd
against incursion. Its poor state of preservation today is probably the result of a combination of its exposed position and the use of poor-quality mortar. It is not known when or how 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 slighted.
Bala, Gwynedd
Bala is a market town and community in Gwynedd, Wales, and formerly an urban district of the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies at the north end of Bala Lake , 17 miles north-east of Dolgellau, with a population of 1,980...
in Gwynedd
Gwynedd
Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...
, north Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
built in the thirteenth century. Its early history is unrecorded, and it would seem to have been built by one of the three major princes of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
to have governed in the thirteenth century, Llywelyn Fawr, Dafydd ap Llywelyn
Dafydd ap Llywelyn
Dafydd ap Llywelyn was Prince of Gwynedd from 1240 to 1246. He was for a time recognised as Prince of Wales.- Descent :...
, or Llywelyn the Last
Llywelyn the Last
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd or Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf , sometimes rendered as Llywelyn II, was the last prince of an independent Wales before its conquest by Edward I of England....
.
Built in typical Welsh style, it consisted of a D-shaped tower with smaller round or semi-round towers surrounding a small ward and central keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
, and was built to guard the southern borders of the kingdom of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...
against incursion. Its poor state of preservation today is probably the result of a combination of its exposed position and the use of poor-quality mortar. It is not known when or how 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 slighted.