Scheduled MonumentsWalesMorganstown Castle Mound
Medieval · Motte

Morganstown Castle Mound

Wales
Cadw SAM GM256
Period
Medieval
Site type
Motte
Broad class
Defence
Nation
Wales
The designation
Reference
Cadw SAM GM256
Authority
Cadw
Designated
1958-05-29
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw

Overview

History & significance

Morganstown Castle Mound is a motte situated in Glamorgan, Wales, dating to the medieval period. The monument consists of a substantial earthwork mound characteristic of motte-and-bailey fortifications, representing a form of defensive architecture widely constructed in Wales and the Welsh Borders during the Norman period and subsequent medieval centuries. Such mottes typically served as the focal point of early medieval settlements, providing elevated vantage points for defence and territorial control. The site remains an important example of early medieval military engineering in the region, recorded under Cadw's Scheduled Ancient Monuments protection as GM256.

Morganstown Castle Mound is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference GM256. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Morganstown Castle Mound?

Morganstown Castle Mound is a motte situated in Glamorgan, Wales, dating to the medieval period. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference GM256.

What period does Morganstown Castle Mound date from?

Morganstown 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.

Who is responsible for protecting Morganstown Castle Mound?

Morganstown 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 GM256.

What other scheduled monuments are near Morganstown Castle Mound?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Greave Round Barrow (8.6 km), Tinkinswood Chambered Tomb (9.3 km), Coed-y-Cwm Chambered Cairn (9.4 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Morganstown Castle Mound

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Morganstown Castle Mound's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Morganstown Castle Mound

Morganstown Castle Mound stands on Dinantian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Mississippian. The rock here is limestone with subordinate sandstone and argillaceous rocks.