Wales · Partial ruin
Dolforwyn Castle
Castell Dolforwyn
Dolforwyn Castle (Castell Dolforwyn) is a late 13th-century Welsh castle built by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd above Abermule in Powys. It occupies a rectangular platform hewn from rock on a wooded ridge overlooking the upper Severn Valley and was captured by English forces in 1277; the site is now an excavated monument open to the public.
First raised
1273
Its prime
1277
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1277
What Dolforwyn Castle looked like in its prime.
Perched on a rock-hewn rectangular platform roughly 240 by 90 feet, the castle comprised a rectangular keep at the south-west end and a circular tower at the opposite end, linked by stone ramparts forming a rectangular enclosure with a D-shaped tower on the northern curtain. The enclosed area was divided by a deep rock-cut ditch; a two-storey stone structure stood against the north wall. Main access was through a west gateway with a smaller south entrance, all built in local grey-brown rubble masonry.
Its story
The story of Dolforwyn Castle.
Dolforwyn was established by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Gwynedd, in the late 13th century, on a wooded ridge commanding the upper Severn Valley above Abermule, a fine example of native Welsh castle design rather than the work of the Cambro-Normans. Built without the authorisation of the new English king Edward I, whose frontier post stood at Montgomery Castle, it fed growing tensions between the king, Llywelyn, and Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn of southern Powys.
In 1277, shortly after the castle was completed, Roger Mortimer, Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, and Otto de Grandson besieged it. A letter written from Dolforwyn, attributed to de Lacy or Grandson, is considered instrumental in bringing Master James of Saint George to Wales, the man who would go on to build Flint, Rhuddlan, Conwy, Caernarfon, Harlech and Beaumaris.
The castle then passed down the Mortimer line, on Roger's death in 1282 to his son Edmund, then to Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, who lost the family estates in 1322 after an act of treason. Ownership later passed to the Earls of Powis, and the site was bought by the grandfather of the antiquarian John Davies Knatchbull Lloyd before being given to the Welsh Ancient Monuments Board, now Cadw, in 1955. It survives as an excavated monument open to the public.
Step inside
12 places to explore in 1277.
The record describes 12 distinct spots at Dolforwyn Castle, including 6 interiors: interior of the circular (round) tower, armoury, two-storey structure against the north wall, great hall in the domestic ranges and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Dolforwyn Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1277, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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Clans who held Dolforwyn Castle.
The families that held Dolforwyn Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Mortimer
Held by the Mortimers from the capture of 1277 until Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, forfeited the family estates for treason in 1322.
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