Dinas Powys Castle, Vale of Glamorgan

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What is recorded here

Dinas Powys Castle was the defended centre of a wealthy medieval lordship, probably held by the de Somery family from the twelfth century. Its great tower, walled court, hall and gates were ruined by the early 1500s, but high curtain walls still crown the wooded ridge.

Who built and held it

The de Somery family held the lordship by the middle of the twelfth century and may have raised the early rectangular great tower. The castle is first clearly recorded around 1200 and served as the chief defended residence and working centre of their local lands.

Attack, change and use

No secure siege explains its end. An early tower appears to have been joined by a later stone enclosure containing a lordly hall and other timber and masonry rooms. Coins show activity from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, but a survey found the castle ruined in the early sixteenth.

What survives

A roughly rectangular court remains on the steep ridge, bounded by curtain walls that still reach battlement height in places. The main arched entrance, smaller rear gate, rubble of the great tower and traces of buildings reveal the plan despite heavy decay.

Why it mattered

This was not simply a refuge: it was the visible headquarters of the Dinas Powys lordship. Its naturally strong hill, large hall and substantial walls show where land, wealth and local rule were concentrated before nearby settlement expanded around the wooded castle ridge.