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Castell y Waun Castle Mound is a medieval motte located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference DE117. The monument sits upon bedrock of the South Wales Lower Coal Measures Formation, a sequence of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone interbedded with coal and ironstone deposits that formed during the Westphalian period. This coal-rich geology is characteristic of the South Wales coalfield, where such ironstone-bearing strata would have supported early industrial activity in later centuries.
The motte itself represents a common form of Norman and early medieval fortification, consisting of an earthen mound that would originally have been crowned with a timber or stone structure. Such mottes were rapidly constructed to establish territorial control and were frequently built at strategic locations within newly conquered or contested lands. The choice of this particular site suggests an important position within the medieval settlement pattern of the region.
The monument survives as an earthwork, preserving evidence of medieval defensive architecture within the Welsh landscape. Its protection under Cadw ensures the preservation of this significant record of medieval fortification and settlement history in Wales.
Castell y Waun Castle Mound is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference DE117. View the official record →
Castell y Waun Castle Mound is a medieval motte located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference DE117.
Castell y Waun Castle Mound dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a motte. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Castell y Waun Castle Mound is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is DE117.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Whittington Castle (7.3 km), Offa's Dyke: section 410m long, E of Llawnt (7.4 km), Offa's Dyke: section 400yds (370m) long, E of Llawnt (7.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Castell y Waun Castle Mound's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Castell y Waun Castle Mound stands on Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation And South Wales Lower Coal Measures Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Westphalian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.