The remains of Aberedw Castle, also known as 'Castle in Elfael Uwch Mynydd', are located at the small village of Aberedw in the county of

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

, Mid-Wales. It was built in the late twelfth century and probably replaced the

motte and bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...

castle a few hundred metres away.

History

The

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

was signed to Walter Heckelutel, as a Licence of the Crenellate, by King

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

on 24 November 1284. This licence to crenellate was thought of as a way for central authority to exert power over the lords, although this is not confirmed. It is also suggested however, that the castle dates back to 1093 when the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

invaded South Wales. Aberedw is more famously known to be the residence of Llewelyn ap Gruffydd. This man is very well known as the last native

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

. Aberedw was the last retreat Llewelyn made before he was killed and beheaded by Adam Francton, who then had his head sent to the

King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers Constitutional monarchy, regula ...

, in 1282.

Description

It was a rectangular stone castle with circular towers in diameter at the angles, surrounded by a moat approximately wide. It stands to the east of the

River Wye The River Wye (; ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn Estuary. The lower reaches of the river forms part of Wales-England bor ...

floodplain and remains of the moat are visible on the other three sides. It was entered via a causeway across the ditch on the east side and there are some signs of internal buildings. The eastern towers show some signs of latrine chutes. Today it is a ruin, as most of the west side was destroyed by railway construction in the 19th century. Many stones from the castle were used in the construction of the foundations of the track. The ruins are in poor shape and there is active

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

that is damaging the site.

References

External links

{{Authority control Castles in Powys Scheduled monuments in Powys