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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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Nantcribba Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
The Gaer, Nant y Cribbau; Gwyddgrug; Wydrug; Wyrebruch; Nant Cribau

In the community of Forden with Leighton and Trelystan.
In the historic county of Montgomeryshire.
Modern authority of Powys.
Preserved county of Powys.

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ23740140
Latitude 52.60499° Longitude -3.12747°

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

There are masonry footings remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

The summit of an isolated knoll of rock, c.80m N-S by 64m, appears to have been scarped to produce an enclosure, c.45m by 30m, upon which traces of masonry have been found. The knoll, mutilated by quarrying, is set within an oval enclosure, c.140m N-S by 210m, defined by a broad ditch and external bank. (Coflein)

It stands beside Offa's Dyke, and a ditch on the hill side may show some continuity between a Dark Ages site and a medieval site. The final traces of a stone wall remain on the hill top, and probably enclosed an area of around 40mx35m. Round towers may have stood at the south and west corners. The site was probably the castle of Gwyddgrwg begun around 1260 by the owner of Caus Castle (Thomas Corbet), and destroyed in 1263 by Gryffydd ap Gwenwynwyn. (Dan Mersey)

A lofty and impressive conical outcrop of igneous rock, with steep and partly precipitous slopes, dominates a rounded plateau thrust out from the S. end of Long Mountain. Upon its summit are the vestiges of a stone castle of the 1260s. Surrounding the rock, at a distance of20 m to 30 m from its base, is a wide oval ditch. The area enclosed against the rock is level, except to the E., where the ditch descends a slight fall to form a right-angle about 80 m away. The ditch is wet to W. and S., where there is a continuous counterscarp bank. The absence of an internal bank, except for some 110m around the W. side, is difficult to explain. The outline and large area enclosed by the ditch would seem inappropriate as the outer line of the very short-lived castle on the rock. Overall, the ditch encloses 1.95 ha (4.28 acres), of which the rock occupies about a third. Offa's Dyke passes only 110m W. of the site. Being in the township of Wropton (Urbetune in Domesday), it was the obvious centre for the pre-Norman settlement here, and a crossing of the Dyke may be indicated by the gap for the lane to the adjacent farm. (Spurgeon, 1988)
Comments

In 1963 Hogg and King had consider this a the site of an early (timber) castle but in 1970 seem to reject this possibility. It is marked as motte and bailey on the OS map and any earlier timber buildings are likely to be lost under the later masonry.
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
Coflein   County HER   Scheduling        
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Streetmap   NLS maps   Where's the path   Old-Maps      
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Sources of information, references and further reading
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This record last updated 28/06/2017 18:13:03


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