Nefyn (The Gatehouse Record)

Nefyn

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Tomen Nevin

In the community of Nefyn.
In the historic county of Caernarfonshire.
Modern authority of Gwynedd.
Preserved county of Gwynedd.

OS Map Grid Reference: SH30664057
Latitude 52.93491° Longitude -4.52212°

Nefyn has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Much mutilated motte with C19 fisherman's watch tower on top. (King 1983)

An originally circular mound, c.16.5m in diameter and 3.0m high, having a summit area, c.12m in diameter, encroached upon and cut away on the W, by public conveniences. A watch tower has been raised upon the summit. (Coflein)

Situated on a mound near the centre of Nefyn, some 60m W of the junction of the A497 and the B4417 and approximately 25m N of the latter.
C19 watch tower probably built in connection with the fishing industry. It is shown on the 1889 O.S. map but not marked on the Nefyn Tithe Map of 1838 so is possibly mid C19. It stands on a circular mound which is possibly of an earlier date.
Small square watch tower of rubble stone built on the summit of the remains of a small circular mound some 3m high. Tower is approximately 3m square and some 5m high with a plain parapet 1m high. There are 15 external steps with iron handrail on the landward side turning a right angle after 9 steps to gain the platform.
A rare example of a coastal watch tower, possibly connected with the C19 herring fishing industry of Nefyn. (Listed Building Report)

Motte, on N.W. side of town. Mutilated remains of a circular mound originally perhaps 10 ft. high and 40 ft. in diameter at the top. The N. side has been terraced and revetted with a modern wall, and building encroach on the S. side, which has been partly cut away. The watch tower crowns the summit. Nothing remains to show whether a bailey existed. (RCAHMW 1964)

Comments

Despite being damaged there seems little real doubt this was a motte. Any bailey has been lost to development. The location is typical for a manorial centre, in the middle of settlement and by the church.

Sources of information, references and further reading

The CADW listed database record number is/are 4372.
The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s) for this site is/are 308100; 34168.
The County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) for this site is/are 12718.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Paul Remfry, 2016, The Early Castles of Gwynedd
Books
- Morgan, Gerald, 2008, Castles in Wales: A Handbook (Talybont: Y Lolfa Cyf.) p. 252 (listed as possible)
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles of North Wales (Malvern) p. 49 (slight)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 35
  RCAHMW, 1964, A Survey and Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Caernarvonshire Vol. 3: West (HMSO) p. 85 no. 1682 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1963, 'Early castles in Wales and the Marches: a preliminary list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 112 p. 77-124
  Owen, Edward, 1903, 'Ancient British camps, etc., in Lleyn, co. Carnarvon' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 58 p. 258 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Davies, J.G., 2013, The Earth and Timber Castles of the Ll n Peninsula in their Archaeological, Historical and Landscape Context (BA Dissertation University of Durham) p. 48-52 online copy

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales, the four welsh archaeological trusts and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain Designated Historic Asset Descriptive Information from The Welsh Historic Environment Service (Cadw), licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown.
Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

Lidar coverage in the UK is not complete. The button above will give an idea of the area of coverage. Higher resolution lidar images in both DSM and DTM form may be available from Lle A geo-Portal for Wales (click the preview tag to bring up a map and then select format byclicking on the small blue diamond in the top right corner of the map.)

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of the described site.

This record last updated 05/03/2016 07:44:02

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