GATEHOUSE
The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
Home
The listings
Other Info
Books
Links
Downloads
Contact
 
Print Page 
 
Next Record 
Previous Record 
Back to list 

Castell Coch, Ystradfellte

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Stratmelthin; Mellte Castle

In the community of Ystradfellte.
In the historic county of Brecknockshire.
Modern authority of Powys.
Preserved county of Powys.

OS Map Grid Reference: SN93591444
Latitude 51.81811° Longitude -3.54503°

Castell Coch, Ystradfellte has been described as a certain Masonry Castle.

There are masonry footings remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Castle, taking its name from the red sandstone of which it is built, lies on a promontory about 9m high between the Afon Llia and Afon Dringarth in a remote position on the south side of the Brecon Beacons. The only historical reference to it is in 1239 when it was held by William de Braose. The southern end of the promontory has beneath a tangle of vegetation the last vestiges of a wall about 1.5m thick around a pentangular court about 27m wide. Adjoining the west wall and occupying much of the rectangular northern part of the court is a keep about 16m long by 12m wide. At the NE corner are signs of a recessed gateway. The southern part of the court tapers to an acute angle which was occupied by a round tower about 13m in internal diameter, large enough to form a second keep. The layout and poor quality of masonry suggest it may date from the 1260s when Llywelyn ap Gruffydd controlled this area. North of the court is a bailey 60m wide, protected on the north side by a high rampart. (Salter)

Castle remains are at S end of a bluff where it narrows. Northern part consists of roughly rectangular, steep-sided, mound of stones, c.2m-2.2m high. Top of mound has tumbled walls around it, c.1-1.6m high on N, c.1.5m high on W, and c.1m high on E and S. Interior is full of stones and has a hollow in the middle 0.6-0.7m deep. To N of mound is a straight, discontinuous low stony bank running E/W. There is a gap in the NE corner and it then continues N/S along the top of the natural scarp on the E side, 0.5m-1.0m high. No outer wall on W. To S of mound is a small level open area, and then at the very end of the bluff there is a further, roughly circular mound c.2.5-2.7m high, now little more than a pile of stones whose top is surrounded by ruined walls c.1-2m high on N and 0.3m high on S. Below bluff to S a great E/W ditch, about 2-3m deep on S, has been cut through the interfluve between the two rivers. (Cadw 1988). (Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust HER)

The monument comprises the remains of a motte and bailey castle, a military stronghold built during the medieval period. The castle remains are located on a high triangular bluff between the rivers Llia and Dringarth, immediately N of their confluence. It is a dramatic position, and a good defensive one, with precipitous natural scarps to the E and W. The weakest side is to the N where the ground rises gently, and here the castle is defended by a massive steep-sided bank, 3-4m high inside and out. Outside the wall is a flat bottomed ditch, 1.5- 1.8m deep on the outside. The bank curves southwards at its E end and stops just short of the natural scarp. The castle remains are located at the southern end of the bluff, where it narrows considerably. The northern part consists of a roughly rectangular mound of stones, 2.2m high, with steep sides covered with tumbled stone. The top of the mound has tumbled walls around it, 1-1.6m high and the roughly rectangular interior is full of stonesand has a small hollow in the middle. Outside the wall, on the N side, is a straight, discontinous low stony bank running E-W. There is a gap in the NE corner and it then continues N-S along the top of the natural scarp. To the S of the mound is a small open area and right at the end of the bluff a roughly circular mound 2.5-2.7m high, with ruined walls surrounding the top. Below the bluff, to the S, a substantial E/W orientated ditch, 2-3m deep, has been cut through the peninsula between the two rivers. The only historical record relating to the site dates to 1239, when the castle was held by William de Braose. (Scheduling Report)
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

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      

Sources of information, references and further reading
Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.
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.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.
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.

This record last updated 05/07/2016 17:25:47


¤¤¤¤¤