Dyfed Archaeological Trust Historic Environment
Record
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Walwyns Castle
Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 3366 Trust : Dyfed Community : Walwyn's Castle Unitary authority : Pembrokeshire NGR : SM87261106 Site Type (preferred type first) : Medieval Motte Status : Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Summary : The scheduling description of 1979 classifies this feature as a Rath and records it as a well preserved and complex monument. The feature is described in Vol 126 of Archaeologia Cambrensis as an earthwork castle with a large round motte that may occupy the site of an Iron Age promontory fort. The promontory is cut off to the north by a massive bank and ditch with an entrance. At its southern end the feature has an inner ward defended by a transverse bank and ditch containing a motte. A double outer ward is divided longitudinally by a central bank and ditch. The Ordnance Survey record states that a mound located within the interior may originally have been a barrow which later became a motte. The scheduled area was extended in 1995 to include an oval shaped terrace that extends to the northeast of the main feature, and a large flat field located to the south. It is considered that this southern field may have been a further bailey to the medieval castle, or a secure infield to the prehistoric site. Walwyn's castle is known in Welsh as Castell Gwalchmai. In the late 11th century William of Malmesbury said that the tomb of Gwalchmai, nephew to King Arthur, had been found there. MM April 2003
