Penmaen Burrows Ringwork

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Castle Tower

In the community of Ilston. In the historic county of Glamorgan (Modern authority of Swansea, preserved county of West Glamorgan).

Small Norman timber castle located on the Gower peninsula. Excavations at the site have revealed a ringwork castle of C12. Two phases of building at Penmaen cannot be closely dated, but the ringwork with its timber gateway is accepted as being Norman. At some stage the gate was destroyed by fire, although whether this was through Welsh attack or domestic mishap will never be know. However, it was replaced by a drystone-walled gatetower, which could have been Norman or possibly a rebuilding by a Welsh lord, Rhys Gryg ap Rhys, who had destroyed all the castles in the Gower in 1217. Penmaen's "Castle Tower" was also a drystone-walled hall with curved ends. The walls as excavated stood only about .35m high, and were probably built well under 1m originally.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SS53418803

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 305605
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 00300w; 88904*0 [NT SMR] '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/penmaen.html
• Books
  • Morgan, Gerald, 2008, Castles in Wales: A Handbook (Talybont: Y Lolfa Cyf.) p240 [listed]
    Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p111
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p187, 198, 308, 310, 311, 359
    RCAHMW, 1991, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Vol3 pt1a: The Early Castles (London: HMSO) CR18 p123-7
    Salter, Mike, 1991, The Castles of Gwent, Glamorgan and Gower (Malvern) p68
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p168
    Davis, Paul R., 1983, Castles of Glamorgan (Alun Books) p9
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p373
    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) p419, 445
    Grenfell, Harold E. and Morris, Bernard, 1970 (Revised 1985) The Castles of Gower (Merthyr Tydfil) p2, 8
• Journal Articles
  • King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Chateau Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    Alcock, L., 1966, 'Castle Tower, Penmaen: A Norman Ringwork in Glamorgan' Antiquaries Journal Vol46 p178-210
    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
    1962-3, Medieval Archaeology Vol6-7 p326 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    1961, Medieval Archaeology Vol5 p321 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Alcock, 1961, Morgannwg Vol5 p79-81
    Alcock, 1960, Morgannwg Vol4 p67-70
    1920, Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol75 p300-1