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The Berries Mound and Bailey Castle is a medieval motte and bailey fortification situated in Wales. The castle consists of an earthen mound, or motte, which would have been crowned with a timber or stone tower, accompanied by an adjacent bailey or courtyard enclosed by a palisade. This form of castle became the dominant fortification type across Wales and Norman England following the 11th century conquest, offering rapid construction with readily available earth and timber resources.
The monument sits upon Triassic bedrock comprising mudstone, siltstone and sandstone, which would have provided both the underlying stability for the mound's construction and accessible stone for building materials. The loose, stratified geology of the site is typical of lowland Welsh valleys, where such deposits weather readily and were easily worked by medieval engineers to raise the substantial earthwork.
The Berries Mound and Bailey Castle is protected as a scheduled monument by Cadw, the historic monuments service of Wales, under the reference MM026. Its survival as an upstanding earthwork preserves evidence of the medieval settlement patterns and defensive strategies of Wales, reflecting the processes of military consolidation that characterised the period following the Norman advance into Welsh territories.
The Berries Mound & Bailey Castle is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference MM026. View the official record →
The Berries Mound and Bailey Castle is a medieval motte and bailey fortification situated in Wales. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference MM026.
The Berries Mound & Bailey Castle dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a motte. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
The Berries Mound & Bailey Castle 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 MM026.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including St. Mary's Churchyard Cross, Portskewett (1.8 km), Harold's House (site of) (1.8 km), Enclosure revealed by Aerial Photography (2.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of The Berries Mound & Bailey Castle'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.
The Berries Mound & Bailey Castle stands on Triassic Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Triassic. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.