Tomen yr Allt (or Domen yr Allt) was a Medieval

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 ...

defensive castle near

Llanfyllin Llanfyllin ( – ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales. The community (which measures 41.8 square kilometres) population in 2021 was 1,586 and the town's name means ''church or parish'' (Llan (placename), llan) ''o ...

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 ...

, Wales. "Tomen ar hallt" is modern

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

for "mound on the wooded hillside." Motte Strichzeichnung

Description

The site is over in diameter; the central man-made earthwork mound (

motte 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 (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortificati ...

) is about and nearly high. There is a continuous stony ditch, which is doubled on the north-east side, away from the natural slope of the hill. The bank is flattened where it joins fields on the south-east side and no bailey is apparent in that section. Most of the earthworks remain and the

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

of the castle was probably timber, as CPAT (

Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT; ; YACP) was an educational charity, the objective of which was ‘to advance the education of the public in archaeology’. CPAT was established in 1975 and dissolved in 2024, when it merged with the th ...

) found a piece of

daub Daub or Daube is a surname. It may refer to: Daub Daub may refer to: * Adrian Daub (born 1980), Professor of German * Gerti Daub (born 1937), Miss Germany 1957 * Hal Daub (born 1941), American politician and lawyer * Karl Daub (1765–1836), ...

and the remains of a

burnt layer A burnt layer or burned layer in archaeology is a stratum of earth that was formed primarily by the burning of objects or buildings. The extent of the layer is irrelevant. It can be the remains of a campfire as well as the remains of a burned do ...

in 1978. The site is a

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

scheduled monument.

History

Tomen yr Allt was the

caput A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may not ...

of the

commote A commote (, sometimes spelt in older documents as , plural , less frequently )'' Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales. The word derives from the prefix ("together" ...

of Mechain Uwch Coed in the

cantref A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a Wales in the Early Middle Ages, medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law. Description Land in medieval Wales was divid ...

Mechain Mechain was a medieval cantref in the Kingdom of Powys. This cantref has also been referred to as Y Fyrnwy (''Vyrnwy''). Mechain may owe its name to the River Cain which flows through it on its way to join the River Vyrnwy; 'Me' or 'Mach' (cf. ...

. In 1160, when the

Kingdom of Powys The Kingdom of Powys (; ) was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. It very roughly covered the northern two-thirds of the modern county of Pow ...

was divided, Mechain became part of the principality which later came to be known as

Powys Wenwynwyn Powys Wenwynwyn or Powys Cyfeiliog was a Welsh kingdom which existed during the high Middle Ages. The realm was the southern portion of the former princely state of Kingdom of Powys, Powys which split following the death of Madog ap Maredudd of P ...

. By 1208, the region was controlled by

Llywelyn the Great Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (, – 11 April 1240), also known as Llywelyn the Great (, ; ), was a medieval Welsh ruler. He succeeded his uncle, Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, as King of Gwynedd in 1195. By a combination of war and diplomacy, he dominate ...

. After his death in 1241, his heir had to come to terms with

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of John, King of England, King John and Isabella of Ang ...

, which resulted in Powys Wenwynwyn passing to the rule of

Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn (died c. 1286) was a Welsh people, Welsh king who was lord of the part of Kingdom of Powys, Powys known as Powys Wenwynwyn; he sided with King Edward I of England in the latter's Conquest of Wales by Edward I, conquest of W ...

who was allied to Henry III.

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Llywelyn ap Gruffudd ( – 11 December 1282), also known as Llywelyn II and Llywelyn the Last (), was List of rulers of Gwynedd, Prince of Gwynedd, and later was recognised as the Prince of Wales (; ) from 1258 until his death at Cilmeri in 128 ...

, the grandson of Llywelyn the Great and the Prince of Gwynedd, began to expand his territory after 1255. In May 1257, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was reported to have put the "castle of Bodyddon" under siege (Tomen yr Allt is less than 1 km east of Bodyddon and overlooks it). The intention was likely to bring the lords of Mechain to submission, and by 1258 they were indeed allied to Llywelyn. Presumably Tomen yr Allt is the "castle of Bodyddon" to which the reports refer, which was destroyed in 1257. The site overlooks Bodfach Hall approximately 1 km south-east in the hamlet of

Bodfach Bodfach is a hamlet in the community of Llanfyllin, Powys, Wales. Nearby Bodfach Estate goes back to 1160 when by Einion Efell inherited the land from his father Madog ap Maredudd, Prince of Powys, following the destruction of the Tomen yr Allt ...

near Llanfyllin. Tomen yr Allt and the wooded area around it, known as Coed yr Allt, is on land which belonged to the historical estate of the hall. The original building on the site of the hall may have been constructed to replace the castle.

References

{{Reflist Castle ruins in Wales Scheduled monuments in Wales History of Powys Llanfyllin