Castell Meredydd, Machen, castle in Newport

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What is recorded here

Castell Meredydd was a rare stone castle built by the native Welsh rulers of Gwynllwg. It sheltered Morgan ap Hywel after he lost Caerleon, was seized during struggles with English lords, and became unnecessary when Gilbert de Clare conquered Senghenydd and raised the much greater Caerphilly Castle nearby.

Who built and held it

Tradition gives the first stronghold to Maredudd Gethin before 1201. Morgan ap Hywel, lord of Gwynllwg, held it after losing Caerleon in 1217 and probably added the round stone tower. Morgan's heir Maredudd ap Gruffudd strengthened the place further and gave the castle the name by which it is now known.

Attack, change and use

Gilbert Marshal captured the castle in 1236 during a truce, but King Henry III required him to return it to Morgan. Gilbert de Clare took it in 1266 when he overran Senghenydd. Construction of Caerphilly Castle soon afterwards shifted military power away from this smaller and less well-positioned Welsh seat.

What survives

Two rocky mounds retain low masonry. The eastern one carried a round tower about ten metres wide with walls roughly two metres thick; the western held an eighteen-by-ten-metre hall or second tower. A ditch separated these buildings from a broad court, whose banks and cut slopes can still be traced.

Why it mattered

Castell Meredydd is the only known stone castle in Gwent raised by its native Welsh princes. Its tower shows Morgan responding in stone after the loss of Caerleon, while its later eclipse records de Clare's successful takeover. The exact ruin therefore preserves Welsh lordship rather than merely another stage of English castle building.