Degannwy Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Castle of Gannoc; Gannock; Dagaunoth; Deganwy

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

Twin hills above Deganwy show signs of occupation as far back as C6. Legend says that Maelgwyn Gwynedd, one of the most powerful men in post-Roman Wales, held his court here. In 1080 the Norman lord Robert of Rhuddlan built a motte and bailey at Deganwy. This castle was rebuilt by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth around 1213, but his sons later destroyed it rather than allow it to fall to the English under Henry III. Henry rebuilt the castle and strengthened it again, only to see it fall to Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in 1263. Llewelyn once more destroyed Deganwy, and it was left to molder away since that date. Rumour has it that Edward I used the stones of Deganwy to build his new fortress of Conwy. The paltry ruins which can be seen today are mostly from Henry III's fortification, and include the foundations of the gatehouse towers, traces of curtain wall, and the bailey ditches and banks.

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 foundations remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SH78227945

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; 95282

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 2814

• Web site links
  • http://www.castlewales.com/deganwy.html
    http://www.castlewales.com/deganwy1.html
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_wales/115/deganwycastle.htm
• Books
  • Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p33
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles of North Wales (Malvern) p38-9
    Reid, Alan, 1998, Castles of Wales (John Jones Publishing) p72-3
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p61, 62, 63, 143
    Davis, Paul R., 1988, Castles of the Welsh Princes (Swansea)
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p33-4
    Avent, Richard, 1983, Castles of the Princes of Gwynedd (Cardiff)
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p345-6
    Talbot, E.J., 1977, ‘Deganwy Castle’, in P J Davey (ed), Medieval Pottery from Excavations in the North West (Institute of Extension Studies [Liverpool]) p30-3
    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) p624-6
    RCAHMW, 1956, A survey and inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Caernarvonshire Vol1: East (HMSO) p152-5
    Neaverson, E., 1947, Mediaeval Castles in North Wales: A study of Sites, Water Supply, and Building Stones (London) p35-6
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p259-60
    Lowe, W.Bezant, 1912, The Heart of North Wales (Llanfairfechan)Vol1 p169-186
• Journal Articles
  • King, D.J.C., 1969, ‘Degannwy Castle’, Programme of the 116th Annual Meeting at the Vale of Conway, 1969, CAA p13-15
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    Alcock, L., 1967, 'Excavations at Deganwy Castle, Caernarnovonshire, 1961-6' Archaeological Journal, Vol124 p190-201
    1967, Medieval Archaeology Vol11 p289
    1966, Medieval Archaeology Vol10 p193-4
    1964, Medieval Archaeology Vol8 p261
    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
    1962, Medieval Archaeology Vol6-7 p313
    Humphreys, 1910-11, Llandudno Field Club Vol5 p65-105 [wild plan]
    Lord Mostyn, 1898, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol4 p3-8
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents. This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Giles, Rev. J.A. (ed), 1853, Matthew Paris's English History From the year 1235 to 1273 (London) Vol2 p109-12, 114-16
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/glameng.html#carn6]