Places to visit

Harlech Castle - Castell Harlech

Harlech Castle Cadw photograph

Harlech Castle - Castell Harlech is located in the town of Harlech in the North Wales county of Gwynedd. Construction of this concentric castle began in 1283 and has been the site of a number of sieges. Owen Glyndŵr held the castle between 1404 and 1409. In the Civil War it was the last castle to fall to Parliamentary forces. It is situated on a rocky outlet overlooking the Irish Sea and set within spectacular scenery. The thick inner walls have towers at each corner and the domestic buildings are against the inside of the walls. The gateway to the castle is flanked by two large towers. The outer walls are shorter and less thick than the inner. When built the sea came up to the castle and there is a stone stairway that led directly down to the water. The castle is northwest of Dolgellau on the A496.

Bryn Cader Faner

Bryn Cader Faner stone circle / CC BY-SA 2.0 © Copyright Rudi Winter and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence.

Bryn Cader Faner is a Bronze Age round cairn located to the east of Talsarnau, Gwynedd, Wales. This circle is thought to date back to the late third millennium BC and has fifteen stones of about six feet in height and lean outwards from a central cairn. The site is about a four mile walk off the A496 close to Talsarnau which is northeast from Harlech.

Llyn Eiddew Back III

This stone circle is made up of seven stones which is about half of the original number. The site is off the A496 at Llandecwyn southeast of Portmeirion and northwest of Harlech.

Dolwyddelan Castle - Castell Dolwyddelan

Dolwyddelan Castle image from A tour in Wales by Thomas Pennant (1726-1798) courtesy of National Library of Wales.

Dolwyddelan Castle - Castell Dolwyddelan is an early thirteenth century Welsh castle built by Llewellyn Fawr that was extended by the English later that century. It is situated on a hilltop surrounded by a curtain wall and made up of thirteenth century towers and sixteenth century additions. This site is located off the A470 north of Blaenau Ffestiniog, just south of Dolwyddelan which is a village in Conwy, Wales. 

Dinas Emrys - Dinas Castle Hill Fort

Archaeology from the site points to the site being occupied in the Iron Age, Roman and early medieval periods. It is on a wooded hill above the Glaslyn river valley with the remains of the base of a keep and stone ramparts only left of the later Welsh castle. In Arthurian legend it is associated with Vortigern and Merlin whose advice he sought in building a castle here. The site is about one mile northeast of Beddgelert on the A498.

Criccieth Castle - Castell Cricieth

This Welsh castle is located on promontory overlooking Tremadog Bay. Built in the early thirteenth century, it has a commanding view over the surrounding area. It is a spectacular site with a large twin towered gatehouse and ruined walls. It has captured by the English but fell to Owain Glyndŵr in 1404 who had the castle destroyed. It is located at Criccieth, off the A497 west of Portmadog.

Castell Carn Fadrun and Iron Age Hill Fort

This is a twelfth century Welsh stone castle and is set within the remains of a large Iron Age hillfort. The hill fort is made up of two enclosures, with the larger surrounding the smaller. There are foundation remains of round and rectangular buildings in and outside of the enclosure from the Iron Age. The later castle is made up of the remains of a dry stone wall enclosure and is at the highest point of the hill. The site is located on the Llŷn Peninsula, off the B4415 about five miles west of Pwyllheli.

Garn Boduan Hill Fort

This is an Iron Age hill fort on the Llŷn Peninsula comprising of a hill top enclosure made up of two stone wall surrounds. The site is off the B4354 and A497 southeast of Nefyn.

Tre'r Ceiri Hill Fort

This is an Iron Age hill fort on the east summit of the three peaks of Yr Iefl. It covers an area of about 950 feet by 340 feet with as many as 150 hut circles. The earliest fort enclosed an Early Bronze Age cairn and the site was also occupied into the Romano British period. The site is located between Llithfaen and Llanaelhaearn of the B4417 on the Llen Peninsula.

Dinas Dinlle Hill Fort

The site of this hill fort is at the north end of Llŷn Peninsula about six miles to the south east of Caernarfon and some fourteen miles north of Pwllheli. The cliff above the coastal village of Dina Dinlle is called Boncan Dinas and is the site of the Iron Age hill fort. The banks of the fort can still be clearly seen although part of the site has been subject to coastal erosion.

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