Castell Meurig, Llangadog (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Castell Meiris; Castell Pridd; Lychewein; Llan Gadoc

In the community of Llangadog.
In the historic county of Carmarthenshire.
Modern authority of Carmarthenshire.
Preserved county of Dyfed.

OS Map Grid Reference: SN70922755
Latitude 51.93186° Longitude -3.87842°

Castell Meurig, Llangadog has been described as a certain Timber Castle, and also as a probable Masonry Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Earthworks of a medieval castle recorded as having been destroyed in 1209. The castle occupies an isolated natural knoll with low lying, damp ground on all sides but the north. It consists of a massive ditched mound or motte, at the north-east end of a pointed oval embanked enclosure or bailey. The steep-sided flat-topped castle mound is rather oval in plan, about 46m east-west by 35m, and rises 9.2m to a summit some 24m by 14m across. The embanked bailey is roughly 120m north-east to south-west by 88m and shows traces of an external ditch. (Coflein)

The motte-and-bailey castle at Castell Meurig 1.5 km southeast of Llangadog appears to belong to the early, initial phase of Anglo-Norman campaign. It was captured 'by catapults and slings' by Prince Maelgwn ap Rhys in 1203 (Jones 1952, 82) after which it may have become disused; at any rate, it appears not to have influenced any subsequent settlement. (Dyfed Archaeological Trust Historic Landscapes)

The monument comprises the remains of a motte and bailey castle, a military stronghold built during the medieval period. A motte and bailey castle comprises a large conical or pyramidal mound of soil or stone (the motte) surrounded by, or adjacent to, one or more embanked enclosures (the bailey). Both may be surrounded by wet or dry ditches and could be further strengthened with palisades, revetments, and/or a tower on top of the motte. Castell Meurig is located upon a natural mound within the broad valley of the River Tywi at the entrance to the side valley of the Afon Sawdde to the south east. It comprises a motte 10m high and 15m in diameter across the top surrounded by a ditch 2m deep. The bailey is sub-rectangular, c. 170m long, 100m wide and lies to the south of the motte. It is surrounded by a single bank 2-2.3m high externally, up to 1m high internally, with traces of the ditch surviving on the west and east long sides. The castle is mentioned in the Pipe Rolls for 1160 and is recorded as destroyed in 1209. (Scheduling Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

The CADW scheduled monument record number is CM099.
The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s) for this site is/are 304636.
The County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) for this site is/are 5515.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Jeff Thomas's Castles of Wales
  Dyfed Archaeological Trust, 1998-, Historic Landscape Characterisation, Black Mountain and Mynydd Myddfai, Maes-Gwastad
Books
- Morgan, Gerald, 2008, Castles in Wales: A Handbook (Talybont: Y Lolfa Cyf.) p. 236 (listed)
  Davis, Paul R., 2007, Castles of the Welsh Princes (Y Lolfa) p. 84
  Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p. 58
  Davis, Paul, 2000, A Company of Forts. A Guide to the Medieval Castles of West Wales (Gomer Press) p. 35
  Reid, Alan, 1998, Castles of Wales (John Jones Publishing) p. 54
  Salter, Mike, 1996, The Castles of South West Wales (Malvern) p. 46 (slight)
  Davis, P.R., 1987, Castles of Dyfed (Llandysul: Gomer Press) p. 72
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 57
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 362
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 228
  Richard, A.J., 1935, in Lloyd, J.E. (ed), History of Carmathenshire (Cardiff) Vol. 1 p. 273
  RCAHMW, 1917, An inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Carmarthenshire (HMSO) p. 145-6 no. 428 online copy
  Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p. 289-90 online copy
  Lewis, Samual, 1849, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales online copy
Periodical Articles
- Kenyon, John R., 1996, 'Fluctuating Frontiers: Normanno-Welsh Castle Warfare c. 1075 to 1240' Château Gaillard Vol. 17 p. 119-126
  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
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete, particularly for the major royal castles and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- 1884, The Great Roll of the Pipe for the sixth year of the reign of King Henry the Second, A.D. 1159- 1160 (Pipe Roll Society Publications 2) p. 23, 28, 30 online copy
  Brut y Tywysogion 1203, 1208, 1209 (Several transcriptions and translations exist the best being Jones, T., 1952, Brut Y Twysogion (University of Wales, History and Law series 11)–based on the Peniarth MS 20 version. There is a flawed translation Williams ab Ithel, John, 1860, Brut Y Twysogion or The Chronicle of the Princes (Rolls Series) online copy)

Data >	Coflein	County HER	Scheduling
Maps >	Streetmap	NLS maps	Where's the path	Old-Maps
Data/Maps >	Magic	Historic Wales	V. O. B.	Geology	LIDAR
Air Photos >	Bing Maps	Google Maps	Getmapping	ZoomEarth
Photos >	CastleFacts	Geograph	Flickr	Panoramio