Dinas Powys Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Dinas Powis

In the community of Dinas Powys. In the historic county of Glamorgan (Modern authority of Vale of Glamorgan, preserved county of South Glamorgan).

Hill fortified in Dark Ages. In C11 a new bank and ditch were added and the scarp of the new bank was revetted in stone. A double row of postholes at Dinas Powys indicated that the bank was surmounted by a palisade and fighting platform. A little later the site was strengthened by the addition of banks and ditches, now forming a formidable stronghold. Although this phase cannot be dated precisely, it may have been built by the Normans as part of their general advance into south Wales in the early C12. A sub-rectangular enclosure, c.68m NW-SE by 32m, defined by a ruinous stone wall, remains of a medieval castle. The site occupies the end a narrow NW-SE ridge, accessed from the SE. Beyond the walled enclosure, on the NW, an embanked work, c.46m NE-SW by 28m, altered by (?)medieval quarrying, contains the choked ruins of a rectangular great tower. Castle believed to have been founded in the early C12, first mentioned c.1200, thought to have been derelict by C15

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This site is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST15277164

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Monuments Record number; 300454 County Sites and Monuments Record number; 00068s

• Web site links
  • http://www.castlewales.com/dinas_pw.html
• Books
  • Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p94-5
    Reid, Alan, 1998, Castles of Wales (John Jones Publishing) p76
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p62, 352, 358
    RCAHMW, 1991, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Vol3 pt1a: The Early Castles (London: HMSO) EM1 p307-14
    Salter, Mike, 1991, The Castles of Gwent, Glamorgan and Gower (Malvern) p49
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p163
    Davis, Paul R., 1983, Castles of Glamorgan (Alun Books) p44-5
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p348
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Hague, D.B., 1971, in Pugh, T.B. (ed), Glamorgan County History Vol3 The Middle Ages (Cardiff) p440
    Lewis, Samual, 1849, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47797#s3
• Journal Articles
  • Spurgeon, Jack, 1987, 'The Castles of Glamorgan' Chateau Gaillard Vol13 p211
    Spurgeon, C.J., 1983, ‘Dinas Powis Castle’, 130th annual meeting, Vale of Glamorgan, 1983: programme, CAA p15–16
    Spurgeon, C.J. and Thomas, H.J., 1978, 'Medieval Glamorgan' Morgannwg Vol22 p21-2
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1963, 'Early castles in Wales and the Marches: a preliminary list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol112 p77-124
    Corbett, 1909, Cardiff Naturalists' Society Vol42 p70-82 [history only]
• 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] p206
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol3 p23