Carmarthen Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Caermarthen; Caerfyrddin; Rhyd y Gors; Rhyd Cors

In the community of Carmarthen.
In the historic county of Carmarthenshire (Modern authority of Carmarthenshire, preserved county of Dyfed).

The castle is first mentioned in 1094, when the name Rhyd y Gors is used. The earliest castle, built by the Norman William fitz Baldwin, may have been sited elsewhere perhaps further down the river. After 1105 the annals refer to Carmarthen by name, so by then certainly, the Norman castle was on its present site. The castle evidently became important early on, and passed into the hands of the crown. Carmarthen quickly became the administrative center of south-west Wales, and inevitably underwent a series of attacks and rebuilding episodes during the turbulent struggles between Welsh and English in C12 and C13. Among these episodes was the capture and destruction of the castle by Llywelyn the Great in 1215, after which extensive rebuilding work was undertaken by William Marshal the younger earl of Pembroke, who had re-captured the castle in 1223. It may have been at this period that the massive stone defences were built on the site of the original motte.

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

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Listed but grading unknown listed building protected by law*.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SN413199

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; 95084

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 57

• Web site links
  • http://www.castlewales.com/carmarth.html
    http://www.acadat.com/projects/CarmCastle.htm
    http://www.acadat.com/projects/carmgatehouse.htm
    http://www.acadat.com/HLC/HLCTowy/area/area181.htm
    http://www.llanegwad-carmarthen.co.uk/carmscastle-excav.htm
• Books
  • Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p42-3
    Davis, Paul, 2000, A Company of Forts. A Guide to the Medieval Castles of West Wales (Gomer Press) p66-7
    Reid, Alan, 1998, Castles of Wales (John Jones Publishing) p45-6
    Salter, Mike, 1996, The Castles of South West Wales (Malvern) p18-19
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p54
    Soulsby, I., 1983, The Towns of Medieval Wales (Phillimore)
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p336
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p600-1
    Richard, A.J., 1935, in Lloyd, J.E. (ed), History of Carmathenshire (Cardiff) Vol1 p276-7, 289
    Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p23,187
    RCAHMW, 1917, An inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Carmarthenshire (HMSO) p249-51
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p284-6
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p468-9
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol2 p360
• Journal Articles
  • Ludlow, N., 2003, 'An interim review of 10 years' work at Carmarthen Castle, 1993-2003' The Carmarthen Antiquary Vol39 p147-51
    Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p312
    Youngs, S.M. and Clark, J., 1981, ‘Medieval Britain in 1980’, Medieval Archaeology Vol25 p202-3
    James, H.T., 1980, ‘Carmarthen Castle’, Archaeology in Wales, Vol20 p56
    James, H.T., 1980, Carmarthen: an Archaeological and Topographical Survey (Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society for the Dyfed Archaeological Trust)
    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
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp90-121
    Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
    Armitage and Holmes, 1907-8, Transactions of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society Vol3 p14-15, 21-2
    1907, Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol7 p236-9
    Evans, 1906-7, Transactions of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society Vol2 p196-7
    Thomas, 1876, Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol7 p58-64
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/glameng.html#caerm2]
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol3 p59