Castle Tump (Trecastle Motte) is an early 11th-century

motte and bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

Trecastle Trecastle ( cy, Trecastell) ("the town of the castle") is a village in Powys, Wales, situated on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) and in the community of Llywel. The village has a populatio ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

History

This early 11th-century

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

fortification was built by

Bernard de Neufmarche Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

, the half-brother of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

. It is thought to have fallen to a Welsh attack sometime between 1121 and 1136, and after short abandonment was possibly rebuilt by Walter Clifford in the 1150s, with

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassa ...

spending three days in

quelling a

revolt Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

in 1295. At 6.6m high it is the largest

motte and bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortification ...

the

Brecon Beacons National Park The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain (range), Black Mountain ...

( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog). The

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

is 50m by 38m, with a flat summit of 24m by 16m, and the bailey (to the south west side of the motte) is 56m by 40m. The original footprint of the bailey platform was 115m long by 45m wide. Originally both motte and bailey were ditched and counterscarped, similar to other 12th and 13th century castles in Wales; however, the absence of stonework indicated the castle did not retain importance beyond this period. Presently it is the best-preserved motte and bailey in

Breconshire , image_flag= , HQ= Brecon , Government= Brecknockshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= Brycheiniog , Status= , Start= 1535 , End= ...

, and the oval tree-clad motte dominates the east end of the village.

Village name

The village takes its name from the old Motte and Bailey, whose original name was 'una villa nostra de Lliwel', although to this day

Llywel Llywel () is a small village located on the A40, about west of Sennybridge in Brecknockshire (currently administered as part of the unitary authority of Powys), Wales. The Afon Gwydderig runs through the village, not far from its source. Llywel ...

is the name of the neighbouring hamlet, local

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

and

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

. The local name

emerged by the end of the Medieval period, meaning "the town of the castle".coflein website: Trecastle motte
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References

''Some of the information contained in this article has been adapted from th

s website'' Castles in Powys