Swansea Castle lies at the centre of the enclosed and ultimately walled borough and occupied an overall area of around 1.85 hectares (4.6 acres). Denied the evidence which would have been furnished by surviving fabric, it is only possible to discern two broad phases between its foundation, in or soon after 1106, and the building of the largely surviving 'New Castle' (nprn 94515) in the late thirteenth century. During the first phase, from 1106 until the early thirteenth century, the castle was of earth and timber; in the second phase, probably between 1221 and 1284, masonry defences replaced the timber palisades of the inner castle and its bailey.

Sources: Cadw listed buildings database; Pevsner, 'Glamorgan', 1995, pp587-589.

RCAHMW, February 2010.