Dinas Bran Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Crow

In the community of Llangollen. In the historic county of Denbighshire (Modern authority of Denbighshire, preserved county of Clwyd).

Castle built towards the later part of C13 by the princes of Powys Fadog. During the wars between Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, Prince of Wales and Edward I of England the castle was burnt by the Welsh before it was captured in 1277 by Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln. It was not repaired and ceased to be used after the 1280s. A rectangular enclosure, c.82m ENE-WSW by 35m, defined by a stone curtain wall, with a projecting "D" shaped tower on the S side and with the E, entrance facade occupied largely by a rectangular tower and twin-towered gate. Without the wall is a broad, rock-cut ditch on the S and E sides, with a prominent counterscarp on the E and SE. The tower is the most impressive part of the standing remains, originally it protruded south of the curtain wall. A large rectanctanular building with windows looking southwards lay to the east of the tower. This may have been a hall or chapel. The keep is a large square building set in the south-east part of the castle, only the west wall and part of the south survive to any height.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ22244306

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's National Monument Record (Coflein) number is 307064
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 101174 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Web site links
  • http://www.castlewales.com/dinas.html
    http://www.cpat.org.uk/educate/guides/dinasb/dinasb.htm
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/dinasbran.html
• Books
  • Morgan, Gerald, 2008, Castles in Wales: A Handbook (Talybont: Y Lolfa Cyf.) p110-2
    Gravett, Christopher, 2007, The Castles of Edward I in Wales 1277-1307 (Osprey Fortress series 64)
    Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p59-60
    Reid, Alan, 1998, Castles of Wales (John Jones Publishing) p50-2
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles of North Wales (Malvern) p52-3
    Burnham, H., 1995, A Guide to Ancient and Historic Wales: Clwyd and Powys (Cadw, London)
    Davis, Paul R., 1988, Castles of the Welsh Princes (Swansea)
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p103
    Avent, Richard, 1983, Castles of the Princes of Gwynedd (Cardiff)
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p348
    Neaverson, E., 1947, Mediaeval Castles in North Wales: A study of Sites, Water Supply, and Building Stones (London) p36-7
    Lowe, W.Bezant, 1927, The Heart of North Wales (Llanfairfechan) Vol2 p217-8 [slight]
    Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p225-7
    RCAHMW, 1914, An inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Denbighshire (HMSO) p120-1
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p422-5
    Lewis, Samual, 1849, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47851#s9 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47888#s16
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol2 p385
• Journal Articles
  • Jones, W.B., 2000, 'The building of Castell Dinas Bran' Clwyd Historian Vol45 p1-8
    Jones. E P. 1984. ‘Castell Dinas Bran’. Denbighshire Historical Society Transactions 33. 69-74 [in Welsh]
    Cathcart King. D J. 1974. ‘Two Castles in Northern Powys: Dinas Bran and Caergwrle’ Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol123 p113-139
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    Forde-Johnston, 1964, Flintshire History Society Vol21 p9-12 [on the outer enclosure]
    Hemp, W.J., 1935, Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol90 p323-6
    Tregellas, W.H., 1865, ‘Castell Dinas Bran near Llangollen’ Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol20 p49-58 [reprint of The Archaeological Journal article]
    Tregellas, W.H., 1864, ‘Castell Dinas Bran near Llangollen’ The Archaeological Journal Vol21 p114-20 [plan] http://www.archive.org/stream/archaeologicaljo21brit#page/n137/mode/1up
    1864, The Builder Vol22 p545, 636 [letters, the first probably from Clark]
• Guidebooks
  • Cole, J., 2003, Castell Dinas Bran (Llangollen: J.Cole) [New guides to old places]
    Hewitt, R.S., 1977, A history of Castell Dinas Brân with notes on Valle Crucis Abbey (Privately published)
    Grenter, Stephen and Berry, Andre, n.d., Castell Dinas Bran Llangollen (Clwyd Archaeology Service)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p162
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/glameng.html#denb6]
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p82 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl05lelauoft