NAR SH67NW1

Castell Aberlleiniog is a medieval castle mound which has the ruins of a mid seventeenth century fort set upon its summit. The castle was traditionally built by Hugh, Earl of Chester in 1088-90. It has no recorded history following its destruction soon after until Thomas Cheadle, Constable of Beaumaris, built the fort during the disturbances of the mid seventeenth century.
This is a steep sided generally circular mound, roughly 50m across and 5.4m high. The ditch is about 16m wide and 1.2m deep. The level summit is now roughly 25-27m square following the later building. Traces of a bailey have been identified on the south side above the Afon-y-Brenhin valley, where two small mounds, 40m apart, are thought to be the remains of its ramparts. The earthworks would have been modified to some degree when the fort was built.
The fort is a square structure with its corners oriented on the cardinal points. It is 18-19m across overall with broad ramparts, 2.5-5.0m wide, fronted by a narrow wall rising to a parapet roughly 2.5m high. At each corner was a round tower about 4.0m in diameter, each equipped with three small rectangular openings. The enclosure walls all have three evenly spaced buttresses, except for the south-east face, where the main entrance is located. There is a small doorway in the north-west wall.
A much smaller castle mound stands at the mouth of the Lleiniog some 500m to the east (NPRN 302828).

Source: RCAHM Anglesey Inventory (1938), 123-4

The site is now scheduled for restoration with the aid of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant - Western Mail 2007.

John Wiles 13.07.07




Castle attributed to Hugh (Lupus) of Avranches, Earl of Chester, and thought to have been raised in 1088-90. Surmounting the mound are the remains of a late medieval fortification. Source: Cadw list description 2002. 2004.02.10/RCAHMW/SLE