Tomen Castell, Old Dolwyddelan

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

Tradition claims that this Welsh earth and timber castle which occupies a rocky knoll on the valley bottom was the predecessor to the stone castle at Dolwyddelan. Tomen Castell is said to have been the birthplace of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, (the Great), the likely builder of the later castle at Dolwyddelan. Both castles controlled a crucial route through southern Snowdonia, and the importance of this site is further attested to by the presence of the Welsh prince's summer pastures or hafotiroedd. Today the mound or motte is covered with trees and vegetation. There are traces of a rectangular tower on the summit. Excavations (1963-4) showed that the summit of a natural, craggy mound/outcrop, c.50m E-W by 30m, had been raised to produce a platform (?in the region of 16m across), upon which a stone-founded, subrectangular tower, c.8.0m by 8.75m, with walls 2.0-2.75m wide, had been raised: a ditch at the W foot of the mound proved to be c.5.4m across and 1.0m deep.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle
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 SH72475216

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; 303046

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 632

• Web site links
  • http://www.castlewales.com/tomen_d.html
• Books
  • Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press)
    Reid, Alan, 1998, Castles of Wales (John Jones Publishing) p132
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles of North Wales (Malvern) p43
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p34
    Avent, Richard, 1983, Castles of the Princes of Gwynedd (Cardiff)
    RCAHMW, 1956, A survey and inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Caernarvonshire Vol1: East (HMSO) p83
• Journal Articles
  • Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    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
    (Jones, J.E.), 1965, Medieval Archaeology Vol9 p193
    Jones, J.E., 1963, ‘Tomen Castell, Dolwyddelan’, Archaeology in Wales Vol3 p16
    Renn, D.F., 1959, 'Mottes: a classification' Antiquity Vol33 p106-12 [listed as seigework]
• Guidebooks
  • Avent, Richard, 1988, DOLWYDDELAN CASTLE (CADW)
    Avent, Richard, 2004, DOLWYDDELAN CASTLE, DOLBADARN CASTLE, CASTELL Y BERE (CADW)