Dolbenmaen Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Tomen; Plas Dolbenmaen

In the community of Dolbenmaen.
In the historic county of Caernarfonshire (Modern authority of Gwynedd, preserved county of Gwynedd).

Castle mound, 36m in diameter and some 6m high. A substantial ditch survives on the west, but on the other sides the base has been damaged by later walls. Had there been a bailey, it has been lost under later buildings. The history of the motte, built at a fordable crossing of the river Dwyfor, is not well documented. It could be a Norman base or the product of the revival of Welsh power in the early C12. It later formed the administrative center maerdref of the commote of Eifionydd and a royal seat until about 1230, when Llywelyn the Great moved the court to Criccieth.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Earthworks remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SH50654307

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Monuments Record number; 93540

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 161

• Web site links
  • http://www.castlewales.com/dolbmen.html
• Books
  • Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p36
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles of North Wales (Malvern) p49 [slight]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p34
    RCAHMW, 1960, A survey and inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Caernarvonshire Vol2: Central (HMSO) p74
• Journal Articles
  • Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1963, 'Early castles in Wales and the Marches: a preliminary list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol112 p77-124
    Owen, 1903, Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol3 p258