| Summary : Earthwork remains of a Medieval castle. Excavations in 1963 suggested five phases of construction and use:Phase 1 - a ringwork, possibly of early 12th century date;Phase 2 - a stone castle, begun circa 1225-1250, but possibly earlier;Phase 3 (1250-1272), 4 & 5 (1272-1377) represent further elaboration of the stone castle. Apart from a few fragments of walling on the face of the gateway, no masonry from the castle survives. The site comprises a central mound surrounded by a ditch and outer bank. Some damage has been caused by modern quarrying. The site occupies a knoll overlooking a northeast-southwest valley which marks the England-Wales boundary. The name has not been encountered in documents prior to the reign of Elizabeth I. The modern name, in use locally, is Castle Cefn Fron. An Early Bronze Age axe, a Bronze Age spearhead, and 15th century horse trappings were found at the site prior to 1874. The axe and spearhead are in Powysland Museum. Scheduled. (1) |
More information : (SO 16748460) Castle Brynamlwg (NR) (1)
Castel Bryn Amlwg (castle on the prominent hill), of which nothing but earthworks are now standing. The name has not been encountered earlier than the time of Elizabeth I, when it occurs as 'C.y Brynn Amlwc' in a manuscript of Dr. John David Rhys. The common local form today, Castle Cefn Fron, seems even more recent. The site was excavated in 1963 when five stages of construction were revealed. (2-3)
Phase 1. A ringwork; may well have been early 12th century.
Phase 2. Stone castle begun; most likely 1225-50 but may be
earlier.
Phase 3. 1250-1272
Phase 4. & Phase 5. Edwardian (1272-1377).
The castle is mentioned in documents, but cannot be associated with any certainty to historical events which took place in the neighbourhood. (See plans of present earthworks, stone castle and phases 2-5).
An early Bonze Age axe, a Middle/Late Bronze Age spearhead (now in Powysland Museum) and 15th century bronze horse trappings (now lost) were found at Castle Amlwg before 1874. (4)
Earthworks visible. (5)
Castle Cefn Fron (the name used locally (a)) occupies a knoll at 365m. above O.D. commanding a valley which runs from north-east to south-west (the boundary between England and Wales). A broad ridge extends to the north-east of the castle and to the north-west there are steep slopes down to the valley; to the south-west and southeast the ground is marshy.
Apart from a few fragments of walling on the face of the gateway, no masonry remains of the castle survive, but the
probable line of the curtain wall, and the sites of the gateway and three towers, can be traced.
The site comprises a central mound surrounded by a ditch and outer bank, the ditch being rock cut on the south-east side. A modern quarry has broken through the bank on the east, and cut deeply into the ditch, destroying any evidence that there may have been for a possible entrance on this side. The earthworks outside the bank on the east are probably quarry spoil. There is a narrow gap in the rampart on the north-east side nearly opposite the gateway, and leading on to the ridge, which may be an original entrance.
(See revised 1:2500 survey). (6)
SO167 846 Bryn Amlwg (or Cefn Fron) Castle. Scheduled. (7-8)
Castel Bry Amlwg is clearly visible on aerial photographs and was mapped during the Marches Uplands Mapping Project.
(9)
Listed by Cathcart King. (10)
The earthwork and buried remains of a ringwork and enclosure castle. The castle is traditionally known as Castell Bryn Amlwyg which translated means castle on a prominent hill. It is situated on the highest point of a ridge overlooking the Nant Rhuddwr valley and is just over 2 kilometres south of the Kerry Ridgeway, which ran westwards into the heart of Wales. The elongated ground on which the castle sits is oval in plan with dimensions of 88 metres east to west by 104 metres south west to north east. The oval shaped internal mound measures 30 metres by 48 metres across the top and is bounded by a steep-sided rock cut ditch surrounded by a rampart up to 15 metres wide. Part of the defensive circuit has been modified by stone quarrying in the 19th and 20th centuries. The position of the original entrance is marked by a break in the rampart to the north. The position of structures within the interior are marked by embanked wall footings, piles of collapsed masonry and building platforms. The site was excavated in 1963 which found evidence of an inner rampart, structures constructed from timber, a keep at the southern end of the inner rampart, a stone curtain wall around the interior and 2 D-shaped stone towers. A quantity of iron nails, animal bones and an iron arrowhead were also found in a deposit. It is probable that the original ringwork was built in the late 11th or early 12th century while the stone built enclosure castle was constructed in the 13th century. Scheduled.(11)
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