Ty Newydd Mount, Llannor (The Gatehouse Record)

Ty Newydd Mount, Llannor

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Y Mount

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SH34643829
Latitude 52.91643° Longitude -4.46019°

Ty Newydd Mount, Llannor has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

A ditched motte, c.27.4m in diameter and 6.1m high, having a summit area 8.0m in diameter. The ditch, counterscarped on the S, may have been wet. A cobbled area, c.40m ENE, may indicate the site of buildings. (OS495card; SH33NW5) This feature may have been involved in Ty Newydd park/gardens (Nprn86507). (Coflein–J.Wiles 22.09.03)

Y mount, SE of Ty Newydd, a motte at about 200ft above O.D. on ground falling gently to the SSE. A large hollow was excavated on the NNW furnished material for the motte and for a bank on the South and lower side to retain water from a small stream in the moat. It has a modern breach for drainage. No outworks can be traced nor an entrance, but a cobbled area is reported in the field to the east. (Gwynedd Archaeological Trust HER Ref. RCAHMW)

The remains of a motte with slight traces of a bailey. The top of the motte is 6 m above the bottom of the surrounding ditch, and is 8 m in diameter. On the W, where best preserved, the ditch and counterscarp bank are 12 m wide, and the top of the bank is 2 m above the bottom of the ditch and 1.5 m above the outer ground level. The bank has been levelled on the E side. Slight traces of a bank are visible in the field to the E, possibly the outer wall of the bailey. The earlier house stood in this field, before the present Ty Newydd was built in the 17th C. (Scheduling Report)

Comments

The Coflein record suggestion of this being a park feature is reasonable but it seems well attested as a motte and it seems most likely that this was a medieval motte reused as a park feature when the 'new house' was built to replace the older buildings. The mound itself may have functioned as a symbolic marker of the knightly status of the old buildings tenant.

Sources of information, references and further reading

The CADW scheduled monument record number is CN096.
The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s) for this site is/are 302309.
The County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) for this site is/are 1532.

Books
- Morgan, Gerald, 2008, Castles in Wales: A Handbook (Talybont: Y Lolfa Cyf.) p. 233 (listed)
  Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p. 36
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles of North Wales (Malvern) p. 49 (slight)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 34
  RCAHMW, 1964, A Survey and Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Caernarvonshire Vol. 3: West (HMSO) p. 82 no. 1674 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Davies, J., 2013, ‘Y Mount, Ty Newydd, Llannor: earth and timber castles of the Llyn Peninsula in their archaeological, historical and landscape context’ Archaeology in Wales Vol. 52 p. 95-99
  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

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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.

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This record last updated 05/07/2016 22:00:08

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