Aberystwyth Castle

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Extract from "A Topographical Dictionary of Wales"
by Samuel Lewis 1833

.....On the death of Richard de Clare, the Norman lord of the province of Ceredigion, or Cardigan, who was slain in a wood called Coed Grono, in the county of Monmouth, by a party of Welsh lying in ambuscade, his son, Gilbert de Strongbow, erected a castle here, in 1109, in defence of the possessions which, by permission of Henry I., he had recently wrested from Cadwgan ab Bleddyn. In 1114, Grufydd ab Rhys, a Welsh prince, who had for some time carried on with considerable success, in the county of Carmarthen, a desultory warfare with the Norman invaders of South Wales, being invited by the inhabitants of the province of Cardigan to assist them in throwing off the Norman yoke, attacked the castle of Ystradpeithill, near Aberystwith, according to Caradoc of Llancarvan's History of the Princes of Wales, which he reduced, and then encamped at Glâscrûg, about a mile to the east of the church of Llanbadarn-Vawr, intending to attack the castle of Aberystwith on the following morning. The governor, apprised of his design, had sent to the neighbouring castle of Ystrad-Meirig for a reinforcement, which arrived during the night; and in the morning Grufydd, ignorant of the circumstance, and confident of success, advanced to a place called Ystrad Antaron, opposite Aberystwith castle, where he encamped, and held a council of war. But preserving no discipline among his troops, the Normans took advantage of their disorder, and sent out some archers, to tempt them into a skirmish, and to draw them by a feigned retreat towards the bridge over the Rheidol; at the same time placing a party of their best cavalry in ambuscade behind the castle hill. The Welsh eagerly pursued these archers to the bridge. over which they were allured by a fresh device of the enemy, and continued their pursuit almost to the gates of the castle, when the horse which had been posted behind the hill attacked them in the flank, while those whom they had pursued made a stand, and assaulted them in front, by which means all the Welsh that had crossed the bridge were cut to pieces, and Grufydd was compelled to retreat with the remainder of his forces, and to abandon his enterprise. In 1135, Owain Gwynedd and Cadwalader, sons of Grufydd ab Cynan, with a large body of Welsh, made a more successful attempt on the castle, which they took and utterly demolished, putting to the sword all the Normans and Saxons who had settled in this part of the principality, with the exception only of a small number, who escaped by sea into England. Cadwalader, however, soon afterwards marrying Alice, daughter of Richard, Earl of Clare and Lord of Cardigan, rebuilt the castle, and made it his chief place of residence: but Owain Gwynedd, after his accession to the sovereignty of North Wales, in revenge for his brother's contumacy, besieged it and burned it to the ground, in 1142. This place continued for many years to experience all the disasters arising from predatory and intestine warfare, and was frequently destroyed and rebuilt in the continued struggles for dominion which occurred, not only between the English and the Welsh, but also among the rival princes of the country. During this period, mention occurs of the castle of Aber Rheidol having been destroyed, in 1164, by Rhys ab Grufydd, on his invasion of the territories of the Earl of Gloucester; which circumstance has led to a supposition that there was another castle on the sea-shore, near this place, but it is not at all improbable that the castle of Aberystwith was occasionally designated by that name.
After rising from some of its frequent demolitions it was again destroyed, in 1207, by Maelgwyn, an usurping chieftain of South Wales, who had previously restored and fortified it, in order to maintain his power in this part of the principality, but who felt himself unable to hold it against Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, who was advancing to attack him. Llewelyn, on his arrival at Aberystwith, rebuilt and garrisoned the castle, and seized the whole of the extensive territory lying between the rivers, Aëron and Dyvi, which he afterwards surrendered to Rhys and Owain, the sons of Grufydd ab Rhys, and nephews of Maelgwyn. King John, wishing to add the province of Cardigan to his other conquests in Wales, sent Foulke, Viscount Cardiff, warden of the marches, to compel the sons of Grufydd to acknowledged him as their sovereign, in which he was joined by Maelgwyn and his brother Rhys Vychan. The two nephews, unable to withstand such a powerful force, made the required submission, and agreed to relinquish all right to the territories which had been ceded to them by Llewelyn ; and Foulke, having repaired and strengthened the fortifications of the castle, placed in it a strong garrison, to defend it for the king. Maelgwyn and Rhys Vychan, disappointed in their hope of obtaining for themselves the territories of which Rhys and Owain had been dispossessed, laid siege to the castle of Aberystwith, which they succeeded in taking, after an obstinate defence, and razed it to the ground. It appears, notwithstanding, to have been almost immediately rebuilt ; for in 1214, Rhys Vychan, being defeated by Foulke, in Carmarthenshire, took refuge in it with Maelgwyn, and brought with him also his wife and children. In the reign of Henry III., the castle was in the possession of Rhys ab Grufydd, who, about the year 1223, joined the party of the Earl of Pembroke, in consequence of which, Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, Prince of North Wales, seized it, with all its dependencies ; but Rhys complaining to the king, and requesting his protection from this violence, Henry commanded Llewelyn to appear before him at Shrewsbury, and the prince obeying the summons, the quarrel was amicably adjusted. In the reign of Edward I, Grufydd ab Meredydd and Rhys ab Maelgwyn besieged and took the castle of Aberystwith, then held by Llewelyn ab Grufydd, Prince of North Wales, and which soon after fell into the hands of the English; and Edward, in order to secure the fulfilment of the conditions of the peace which he had concluded with Llewelyn, rebuilt it in 1277, and, placing in it a strong garrison, returned to England. The oppressive conduct of Edward's lieutenants, in this part of the country, soon led to an infraction of the peace lately concluded, and among the principal exploits of the insurgent Welsh was the capture of this castle by Rhys ab Maelgwyn and Grufydd ab Meredydd ; but it was soon afterwards delivered up to the English forces, and from this period nothing of importance peculiarly relating to it appears to have occurred till the reign of Henry IV., when it was assaulted and taken, in 1404, by Owain Glyndwr, in whose possession it remained for three years, till it was surrendered on terms to Prince Henry. Owain soon after regained possession of it by stratagem ; but it was finally reduced in the year 1408, by the English, who appear to have retained it without further molestation; and, in the 35th of Henry VIII., William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, was by that monarch appointed captain of the castle and town of Aberystwith. In 1631, Mr. Bushel, who succeeded Sir Hugh Myddelton in the possession of the mines royal of Cardiganshire, having obtained permission from Charles I., established a mint in the castle, for the convenience of paying the men employed in the mines ; and several of the silver coins then struck in it, bearing the crest of the Prince of Wales, have been discovered, which were probably concealed during the troubles of that reign. At the commencement of these commotions the castle was strengthened with additional fortifications, and strongly garrisoned for the king : the royalists kept possession of it till the year 1647, when it was besieged and taken by the parliamentarians, and soon afterwards dismantled. The town, which owes its origin to the erection of the castle, is described by Leland as having been encompassed by walls, the last remains of which were removed some years since, and as being, in his time, a better market than Cardigan; and Camden, who ascribes the building of its walls to Gilbert de Clare, commonly called Strongbow, states that it then was the most populous town in the county. Since that period it has materially increased, both in extent and importance, and may be still regarded as the most flourishing place in this part of South Wales..... Read full account >>

Extract from "Coflein"
Begun by Edward I, 1277, completed in 1289. Royal Mint established by Thomas Bushell in the castle hall in 1637.

Concentric walled lozenge plan castle of coursed rubble masonry. Dry moat to West; round towers to inner and outer wards. Inner gate tower to West with outer gate beyond; twin aspidal tower gateway with pointed entrance, portcullis chase, crenellated parapet and splayed stair turret to North. Dungeon to South West and mural tower to South side of inner ward.

Further Links of Interest:
Coflein - Discovering Our Past Online Coflein is the free online database for the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW).

For more information on the history of Aberystwyth Castle contact the Royal Commission, below:

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales

Plas Crug
Aberystwyth
Ceredigion
SY23 1NJ

E-mail: Contact RCAHMW
Telephone: +44 (0)1970 621200
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