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The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
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Aberafan Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Aber Afan; Aberavon; Beili y Castell; Bailey Castle; Baily'r castell

In the community of Aberavon.
In the historic county of Glamorgan.
Modern authority of Neath Port Talbot.
Preserved county of West Glamorgan.

OS Map Grid Reference: SS762901
Latitude 51.59639° Longitude -3.78870°

Aberafan Castle has been described as a probable Timber Castle, and also as a certain Masonry Castle.

There are no visible remains.
Description

Aberfan Castle is a rectangular moated enclosure, 56m north-north-east by 46m south-south-west with a moat between 13 and 14m wide. It is depicted on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey County series (Glamorgan. XXV.13 1876) and has been identified as a castle recorded as destroyed in 1153, although a later origin is possible. A centrally placed flat-topped rectangular mound, 8.0m north-north-east by 9m south-south-west, has been identified as a cockpit although it is also possible to connect this with ruins noted in 1813. The site was built over between 1876 and 1897. (Coflein ref. RCAHMW, 1991)

Unfortunately there are no detailed antiquarian descriptions of the castle, and the 1875 Ordnance Survey map provides more questions than answers. The map shows a small mound on an oblong moated platform measuring approximately 160ft by 180ft. The mound seems too small to have been a motte, and may have marked the remains of a central keep. (Davis, 1988)
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This record last updated before 1 February 2016
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