DescriptionA crenelated mansion or castle, built by Walter Hackelutel in 1284-5 in the wake of the troubles of the later thirteenth century. It apparently replaced the castle mound on higher ground some 200m to the south-east (NPRN 305749). The castle is not recorded beyond the fourteenth century.
The castle is a walled enclosure, some 39-41m square, with 6.0m diameter round towers at the angles. It stands above the Wye floodplain scarps on the west and has a 10-15m wide ditch on the remaining three sides with a counterscarp bank on the north. The entrance faced east where there is a causeway across the ditch. There are some slight traces of internal buildings. The eastern towers, at least, featured latrine shoots.
The castle is greatly ruined. A dismantled railway runs along the foot of the river scarp.
Source: Jones and Frost in Archaeology in Wales 34 (1994), 76-8
John Wiles, RCAHMW, 01 August 2007