The reputed site of Maenclochog Castle comprises a small flat-topped rock outcrop that rises on the southern edge of the Pound, a rather irregular curvilinear walled enclosure of about 0.15ha. The outcrop in its present form is sometimes thought to have been shaped into a castle mount or motte. It is oval or subrectangular in plan, about 19m across at the base and 3.2-4.0m high, with a level summit 13.3-14m across. The Pound is a ruinous drystone enclosure roughly 47-51m across. It is probably eighteenth century and was the site of livestock markets. It has been identified both as a castle enclosure or bailey, associated with the mound and as a later Prehistoric settlement enclosure.

Excavations in September 2007 examined a section of the Pound perimeter and a small area of the interior. It was found that the Pound wall rested above the foundations of a massive 2.2m wide stone wall. Beyond this was a large defensive ditch with the remains of a clay rampart between the two. Medieval pottery was recovered. In the interior parts of two roundhouses were encountered. It is probable that the Pound enclosure started as a settlement enclosure. The roundhouses are characteristic of settlement in the region from the later Prehistoric and through the Roman period. This was adapted as a castle, probably in the twelfth-thirteenth century. The mount would have been crowned by a great tower of timber or stone and there would have been a court or mansion in the bailey. This may have been enclosed by an earthwork and timber rampart before the great wall was built.

Sources: RCAHMW Pembrokeshire Inventory (1925), 207 No. 636
Hall and Sambrooke (Trysor) 'Maenclochog Castle Survey' (2006)
Cambria Archaeology online Dig Diary 'Community Excavation at Maenclochog Castle Site' (2007)

John Wiles, RCAHMW, 17 October 2007