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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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Gwerclas

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Llangar, The Mount

In the community of Cynwyd.
In the historic county of Merioneth.
Modern authority of Denbighshire.
Preserved county of Clwyd.

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ05394213
Latitude 52.96809° Longitude -3.41014°

Gwerclas has been described as a Timber Castle but is rejected as such.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

This site was considered by the 1921 Commissioners to be a castle mound 5ft high, 60ft in diameter, but is rejected as such by Hogg and King as a barrow if anything. Marked on OS map as 'cairn'.

A circular mound set on the edge of a river terrace, 14m in diameter and 2.0m high, with kerbing noted on the E side. Set in a landscaped garden/park (Nprn265146), this is a rejected castle site, possibly adapted as prospect mound. (Coflein–J.Wiles 01.10.02)

Round cairn 2m high, 14m in diameter lying 91m east of Gwerclas house. It has a kerb of recumbent stones on its east side. RCAHM, 1921 thought this was a castle mound 5ft high, 60 ft diameter. CAR, 1971 - probable sepulchral nature indicated by kerb of large recumbent stones on one side. 14m diameter, 2m high. Field monument warden, 1989, reports 7 large kerb stones visible on east side and further stones lying W and SW of it. Site visit 4/1/99 Sited on level ground. Height 2m, diameter 14m (Denbighshire SMR report)

Comments

Is close to a ford but does seem to be fully rejected as a motte.

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

The CADW scheduled monument record number is ME069.
The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s) for this site is/are 306597.
The County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) for this site is/are 100814.

Books
- King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 278
  Bowen, E.G. and Gresham, C.A., 1967, History of Merioneth Vol. 1
  RCAHMW, 1921, An inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Merionethshire (HMSO) p. 124-5 no. 397 (as motte) online copy
Periodical Articles
- 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 (reject)
  Hemp, W.J., 1951, 'Merionethshire cairns and barrows in Llandrillo and neighbouring parishes' Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies Vol. 14 p. 156 no. 4

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.)

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This record last updated 02/07/2016 19:51:29

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