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)
