Dunraven Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Dunraven Castle

In the community of St Bride's Major.
In the historic county of Glamorgan.
Modern authority of Vale of Glamorgan.
Preserved county of Mid Glamorgan.

OS Map Grid Reference: SS88787281
Latitude 51.44343° Longitude -3.60192°

Dunraven Castle has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are no visible remains.

Description

A medieval castle replaced by a now demolished Victorian mansion. King writes does not deserve the name castle but does write that possible medieval wall was found at SS886729. Close to an Iron Age Promontory Fort which is partly destroyed by coastal erosion. The 'manor place' recorded by Leland in the 1530's was evidently the building with a first-floor hall drawn by Francis Grose in 1775, and G.T. Clark thought that this incorporated part of of the C12 castle of the Butlers.

A castellated mansion, built from c.1800 onwards, demolished 1962, on site of earlier mansion, described as a 'manor place' in the 1530's, but referred to as a castle, c.1580. Set upon the ramparts of a promontory fort (Nrn300161). (Coflein)

Sources of information, references and further reading

The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s) for this site is/are 18581.
The County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) for this site is/are 02253m.

Books
- RCAHMW, 2000, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Vol. 3 Part 1b: The Later Castles (London: HMSO) p. 482-8
  Reid, Alan, 1998, Castles of Wales (John Jones Publishing) p. 79
  Salter, Mike, 1991, The Castles of Gwent, Glamorgan and Gower (Malvern) p. 50
  Lloyd, T., 1986, The Lost Houses of Wales p. 92
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 174 (reject)
  RCAHMW, 1981, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Vol. 4 Part 1: The Greater Houses (London: HMSO) no. 56 p. 337
  RCAHMW, 1976, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Vol. 1 Part 2 (London: HMSO) no. 666 p. 36-8 (plan of Iron Age works)
  Clark, G.T., 1884, Mediaeval Military Architecture in England (Wyman and Sons) Vol. 1 p. 113 online copy
  Clark, G.T., 1883, The Land of Morgan p. 36
  Lewis, Samual, 1849, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales online copy online copy
  Grose, Francis, 1785, The Antiquities of England and Wales (London) Vol. 7 p. 51-54 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Spurgeon, C.J. and Thomas, H.J., 1978, 'Medieval Glamorgan' Morgannwg Vol. 22 p. 55-6 online copy
  Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 116 p. 71-132
  1888, The Builder Vol. 54 p. 379 (Contemporary plan)

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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 before 1 February 2016

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