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Plas Baglan is a medieval castle situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference GM358. The site occupies ground underlain by the Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation and South Wales Lower Coal Measures Formation, a Westphalian-age sequence of mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete that shaped the local landscape. This geological foundation, characteristic of the South Wales coalfield region, would have influenced both the castle's construction and the resources available to its medieval occupants.
The castle represents the medieval period's fortified domestic architecture in Wales, when such structures served defensive, administrative and residential functions for their lords. The choice of location on this coal-bearing bedrock reflects the strategic or territorial considerations of its builders, situated within a landscape rich in mineral deposits that would later drive industrial development in the region.
Today Plas Baglan remains an important element of Wales's medieval heritage, protected recognition reflecting its archaeological and historical significance. The monument contributes to understanding of medieval Welsh settlement patterns and the use of naturally defensible or strategically important sites during the period when such castles dominated the Welsh landscape.
Plas Baglan is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference GM358. View the official record →
Plas Baglan is a medieval castle situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference GM358.
Plas Baglan dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a castle. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Plas Baglan 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 GM358.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Ergyd Isaf Round Barrows (5.3 km), Chain Home Low Radar Station, Margam (6.5 km), Wrecking site of the Ann Francis (6.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Plas Baglan'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.
Plas Baglan 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.