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Clyn Pattel Motte & Bailey is a medieval motte and bailey castle situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference PE412. The monument occupies a naturally commanding position over the surrounding landscape, its earthworks constructed upon bedrock of Ashgill age, comprising mudstone, siltstone and sandstone formations that would have provided a stable foundation for the defensive structures. The geological substrate is characteristic of this region and would have influenced the construction methods employed by its medieval builders.
The motte, the distinctive artificial mound, rises prominently from the surrounding terrain, whilst the accompanying bailey or outer enclosure would have functioned as a defended courtyard space. Such fortifications were typically established during the period of Norman expansion and consolidation of power in Wales, serving administrative and military purposes within the wider landscape of medieval settlement and territorial control.
Though now visible primarily through its earthwork remains, the motte and bailey represents an important phase in medieval Wales's defensive architecture. The site's survival as an upstanding monument has allowed its form to be recorded and protected, preserving evidence of the strategic locations chosen by medieval lords and the engineering solutions they employed to dominate the terrain.
Clyn Pattel Motte & Bailey is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference PE412. View the official record →
Clyn Pattel Motte & Bailey is a medieval motte and bailey castle situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference PE412.
Clyn Pattel Motte & Bailey dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a motte. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Clyn Pattel Motte & Bailey 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 PE412.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Sentence Castle Mound (3.1 km), Castell Meherin Camps (3.2 km), New House Round Barrows (4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Clyn Pattel Motte & Bailey'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.
Clyn Pattel Motte & Bailey stands on Ashgill Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Ashgill. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.