Colwyn Castle, Glascwm, Powys

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What is recorded here

Colwyn Castle reused the site of a Roman fort and was rebuilt repeatedly as Welsh and Norman rulers fought for Maelienydd. Rhys ap Gruffydd destroyed one fortress in 1196, Henry III and Ralph de Mortimer raised successors, and a farmhouse now occupies the abandoned centre within its surviving outer banks.

Who built and held it

Raoul II de Tosny built the first recorded castle on the Roman site in 1093. Henry III restored a stronghold in 1215, and Ralph de Mortimer rebuilt it again in 1242 after gaining the lordship of Maelienydd.

Attack, change and use

Control changed repeatedly before Rhys ap Gruffydd captured and destroyed the castle in 1196 during his campaign against Norman power. Later rebuilding restored the centre, but it was abandoned during the fourteenth century and the remaining masonry was gone by the early modern period.

What survives

A circular ditched enclosure about sixty-five metres across meets two much larger banked enclosures. A farmhouse stands on the central site, while the broad outer defences and the underlying Roman fort remain as archaeological evidence.

Why it mattered

Colwyn's repeated rebuilding shows how control of one lordship moved between competing rulers. Reuse of the Roman ground also gives the site a much longer defensive life than the visible medieval banks alone suggest.