Candelston Castle.

 Visit Date March 2022.  

Today's visit was to Candelston Castle. The first this to say about this old structure is like many "Castles" in Wales it is not actually a castle but a fortified manor house.

The castle was built in around 1320 by the Canteilupe family, Robert de Canteilupe III or possibly his successor John de Cantilupe, who may have been the Abbot of Margam in 1315

Candleston's original long and narrow rectangular structure lay across the western end of a low narrow promontory, suggesting a defensive position. This type of place is often referred to as a "Promontory Fort"

In the 16th / 17th centuries, the castle moved ownership into the Herbert family who added the west wing to the structure.

In the image above you can see where the upper floor was situated and this would have been the main hall.

Between 1806 and 1808, Sir John Nicholl resided at the manor while his manor was built.

Candleston Castle was sold by Richard Franklen to Nicholl in 1830, when it was said to have included a drawing room, dining room, breakfast rooms, four bedrooms and a coach house

In the early 19th century modifications included the construction of a stable, the castle was Crenelated for ornamental purposes and a defensive tower was built. The stepped base of a Cavalry Cross of  an unreported date, with the fallen cross itself lying alongside, was found near the windmill uncovered by sand in 1823.

The Ruins of the windmill can still be seen close by although almost overgrown. What can be seen here now is the round base of the windmill.

Below are images of the ruins of the Windmill

The castle is just about a quarter of a mile (1.21 km) northwest of Ogmore Castle and is on the opposite side of the river Ogmore

My Final image today shows both structures, well overgrown now with the top of Candelston Castle in the lower left and the top of Ogmore Castle in the upper right.

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Visit Information:-
Google Reference
51.482938237069156, -3.6268995640008748

Windmill Reference:-

51.483278569393356, -3.6329086357555718

Google Search reference: Candelston Castle
What Three Words reference:-

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Windmill What Three Words Reference:- 

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Additional information
Visiting the castle is easy as it is alongside a car park (51.48240479235045, -3.6264289697351897)

The Windmill site can also be visited from the same car park but there is quite a climb to get to it from the car park.


This can get very busy during holidays and the roads are quite narrow so take care.

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Carreg Cennen Castle

Visit Date : August 2021

WELSH: Castell Carreg Cennen meaning castle (on the) rock (above the) Cennen) is well named as this fortress is well above the outlying land high upon a limestone cliff.

The site has a long history and may well have also been the site of an Iron Age hillfort.

There is also some Roman history as Roman coins have been found in the area, although it is unlikely the Romans occupied this site on a permanent basis.

Legends of the original fortress goes back to the Dark Ages, held by Urien Rheged, Lord of Iskennen, and his son Owain, knights during the reign of King Arthur.

Stories claim that there is a warrior (perhaps one of the knights, or Arthur himself?) asleep beneath the castle, awaiting a call from the Welsh.

As with many Welsh castles, they will have been built, rebuilt and altered through the ages.

The first "castle" on the site was probably built by the Welsh Lord Rhys, Prince of Deheubarth, in the late 12th century, but was taken in 1277 by King Edward I.

The castle we see today replaced the demolished previous structure in the late 13th century by John Giffard and his son.

It was involved in many battles and was besieged during the rebellion of Owain Glyndwr in about 1403 and was considerably damaged.

Around 1461, the castle was deemed too much of a threat to the monarchy and was destroyed the following spring and is basically in the same state today.

Despite being in a ruinous state in the 18th century it started to attract artists (Turner sketched the castle in 1798).

In the 1960s Carreg Cennen Castle was acquired by the Morris family of Castell Farm, when Lord Cawdor's legal team made a mistake in the wording of the deeds and included the castle as part of the farm.

The image below is an interesting feature (at least to me) was this tower with the hole at the bottom. It was the outlet for the latrine.

Although today the Castle is maintained by CADW: (Welsh Historic Monuments) the castle is still privately owned and managed along with the farm and tea rooms by Margaret & Bernard Llewellyn and their Daughters.

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Visit Information:-

Google Reference 51.854408996393424, -3.935643592179748

Google Search reference: Carreg Cennen Castle

What Three Words reference : ///reason.winners.routs

The site is easy to find Leave north from Ammanford and turn left onto Ffordd Wern Ddu it is signposted from here.

The car park (51.85656999860168, -3.9376914809885473) is free with many spaces and overflow spaces. There are toilets and a "must visit" tea room and gift shop.

 

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Coity Castle

 Visit Date: September 2020

Coity castle was erected by the knight Payn de Turberville at the end of the 11th century during the penetration of south-eastern Wales by the Norman conquerors.

Payn de Turberville was one of twelve Knights (known as the Twelve Knights of Glamorgan) who had accompanied Robert Fitzhamon on his conquest of Glamorgan.

The Welsh ruler, Morgan ap Meurig (Morgan Son of Meurig), not being well enough to fight, offered to marry the Norman’s daughter. Payn accepted the offer and became Lord of Coity.

The castle was built in the form of an earth and timber ringwork fortification.

In around 1180, the castle was rebuilt from timber to stone by another heir of Coity, Gilbert de Turberville

In 1384 the lordship and the castle passed to Sir Lawrence Berkerolles.

He made substantial reinforcements to the castle which resisted the sieges during the Welsh rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr in 1404 and 1405 but in doing so took much damage.

From 1584 to the early 18th Century when it was still partly inhabited, it was owned by the Sydney family, however when Barbara Gamage married Sir Robert Sydney, Earl of Leicester they took up residence in England and the castle had fallen into ruin by the mid 18th Century

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Visit Information:-

Google Reference
51.52204438045472, -3.5529992499369496

Google Search reference: Coity Castle

What Three Words reference : ///scars.share.spice

Additional information
This is a great ruin with plenty of room for visitors with a small carpark and also a playground outside.

Inside there is plenty of grounds for family picnics.

I have made a short "Photo Tour" on YouTube that can be found here:-

Images of Coity Castle - YouTube

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