Castell Mael, Puncheston (The Gatehouse Record)

Castell Mael, Puncheston

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Castell Moel; Punchesterton

In the community of Puncheston.
In the historic county of Pembrokeshire.
Modern authority of Pembrokeshire.
Preserved county of Dyfed.

OS Map Grid Reference: SN00982975
Latitude 51.93063° Longitude -4.89613°

Castell Mael, Puncheston has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

This is a horse-shoe shaped work standing immediately east of the parish church, and on the parish boundary, near the river Anghof which skirts the steep slope that forms the defence to the east. It is protected by a much- disturbed rampart which, rising at its best to 6 feet, falls about 12 feet to a ditch that now is largely filled in. The summit of the slope may have carried a mound of which faint traces may be detected. The length of the slope is about 220 feet; the rock has been scarped in places. The entrance was midway in the rampart; it has been ruined. A school-house has been erected within the enclosed area. (RCAHMW, 1925)

Castell Mael is an oval enclosure, measuring c.84m NE-SW by 58m. It occupies a promontory above a stream confluence, resting on steep scarps except on the east, where the entrance is set in a single bank. (Coflein)

Comments

Large ringwork and, therefore, a possible Iron Age fort in origin - although this does not exclude medieval reuse of the site. King writes "Partial ringwork of a large area at the junction of two valleys. A foundation of boulders on the top of the bank."

Sources of information, references and further reading

The CADW scheduled monument record number is PE232.
The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s) for this site is/are 304467; 94192.
The County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) for this site is/are 1276.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Jeff Thomas's Castles of Wales
Books
- Morgan, Gerald, 2008, Castles in Wales: A Handbook (Talybont: Y Lolfa Cyf.) p. 247, 257 (listed twice)
  Hull, Lise, 2005, Castles and Bishops Palaces of Pembrokeshire (Logaston Press) p. 188
  Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p. 178
  Davis, Paul, 2000, A Company of Forts. A Guide to the Medieval Castles of West Wales (Gomer Press) p. 40
  Salter, Mike, 1996, The Castles of South West Wales (Malvern) p. 87 (slight)
  Miles, Dillwyn, 1979 (Revised 1988), Castles of Pembrokeshire (Pembrokeshire Coast National Park) p. 5-7
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 396
  RCAHMW, 1925, An inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Pembrokeshire (HMSO) p. 299 no. 872 online copy
  Lewis, Samual, 1849, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales online copy
Periodical Articles
- King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol. 3 p. 90-127
  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

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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.
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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.

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.

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This record last updated 03/07/2016 20:15:28

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