Dyserth Castle ( cy, Castell Diserth) is a castle site in

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

in the country of

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 ...

. It is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

protected

ancient borough The ancient boroughs were a historic unit of lower-tier local government in England and Wales. The ancient boroughs covered only important towns and were established by charters granted at different times by the monarchy. Their history is large ...

on a ridge north of the village of

Dyserth Dyserth ( cy, Diserth) is a village, community and electoral ward in Denbighshire, Wales. Its population at the 2011 United Kingdom census was 2,269 and was estimated by the Office for National Statistics as 2,271 in 2019. It lies within the h ...

. It was the last castle of the British fortified defences on the Clwydian hill range in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. The nearby village of

got its name from the castle.

History

Dyserth Castle has been known also as Castell Diserth, Castle de Rupe, Castle of the Rock, Caerfaelan, Carregfaelan, Castell-y-Garrec, Dincolyn, Castell y Ffailon, and Castell Cerri. It is on a high rock summit of

carboniferous limestone Carboniferous Limestone is a collective term for the succession of limestones occurring widely throughout Great Britain and Ireland that were deposited during the Dinantian Epoch of the Carboniferous Period. These rocks formed between 363 and ...

less than a mile from its

namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

village. Excavation of the site shows four periods of fortified occupation –

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a ...

and

Middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. There are local stories of a "Castell Dincolyn" at this hill of pre-Norman times. The Welsh prince

Llywelyn the Great Llywelyn the Great ( cy, Llywelyn Fawr, ; full name Llywelyn mab Iorwerth; c. 117311 April 1240) was a King of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually " Prince of the Welsh" (in 1228) and "Prince of Wales" (in 1240). By a combination of war and d ...

died in 1240, and after his death the English extended their authority into Wales as far north as the

River Conwy , name_etymology = , image = Boats in River Conwy.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , push ...

. This was from the result of three military campaigns to expand the royal lands of the

County of Chester Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county town ...

. To confirm their control of the territory the English then began the building of new castles and rebuilding of certain older castles including

Rhuddlan Castle Rhuddlan Castle ( cy, Castell Rhuddlan; ) is a castle located in Rhuddlan, Denbighshire, Wales. It was erected by Edward I in 1277, following the First Welsh War. Much of the work was overseen by master mason James of Saint George. Rhudd ...

and

Deganwy Castle Deganwy Castle ( lat-med, Arx Deganhui;'' s:la:Annales Cambriae'' (B Text), 13th century wlm, Caer Ddegannwy; Modern cy, Castell Degannwy) was an early stronghold of Gwynedd and lies in Deganwy at the mouth of the River Conwy in Conwy, north ...

. Dyserth Castle was one of those castles, and was intended to replace the original Old Rhuddlan castle at Twthill and to supplement Deganwy Castle. Dyserth Castle has an unclear recorded history for its beginning foundations. A castle was thought to have been begun in 1238 somewhere close to the present site. This first castle was unsuitable, and either taken down completely or reinforced in 1241 by Henry III to become an English fortified castle. Sir Robert Pounderling, an English knight, was constable of the castle from 1241 to 1263. There is a story that he had one of his eyes poked out by a Welshman during a tournament at the castle. Pounderling was challenged again in another tournament by the Welshman, but declined – he didn't want the other eye poked out! Einion, son of

Rhirid Flaidd Rhirid Flaidd (sometimes called Rhirid ap Gwrgenau) ( fl. 1160), according to Welsh tradition, was the son of Gwrgenau, who is supported by an obscure pedigree going back to Cunedda Wledig, the progenitor of the House of Cunedda which had provided ...

, was killed at the siege of Dyserth Castle in 1263. A cross called "Bryn Einion" was erected on the spot of his death. The shaft, at one time a part of the

stile A stile is a structure or opening that provides people passage over or through a boundary via steps, ladders, or narrow gaps. Stiles are often built in rural areas along footpaths, fences, walls, or hedges that enclose animals, allowing people ...

in the Dyserth churchyard, bears an inscription of strange lines and letters. According to a manuscript by

Dafydd Ddu o Hiraddug Dafydd Ddu o Hiraddug (died 1371), also known as Dafydd Ddu Athro o Hiraddug, was a Welsh language poet, grammarian, and Roman Catholic priest in the diocese of Llanelwy (St Asaph). He was once believed to be the son of a certain Hywel ap Madog o ...

the encrypted message reads, '' HOC SI PETATUR LAPSIS ISTE CAUSA NOTATUR , EINION OXI RIRID VLAIDD FILIUS HOC MEMORATUR.'' A translation has been given as, '' THAT NEAR HERE THE CAUSE HIS FALL, IF THEY ASK OF SECRET WRITING , REMEMBER EINION, THIS IS THE SON OF RIRID VLAIDD.'' Sir Robert Pounderling

Description

Dyserth Castle was situated in a naturally defensible strategic location on a mountain ridge at the north end of the Clwydian hills, west of the Conwy River. The small internal courtyard for the castle was entered by way of a twin-towered gatehouse. The castle had a concentric outer curtain wall and according to historian Sean Mason that would be the first constructed in Wales' castles.''Proceedings of the Royal Archaeological Institute, the summer meeting at Chester; 12th to 17th July, 1937'' – "Dyserth Castle (PI. XII) was built by Henry III in 1241, but was taken and destroyed by Llewelyn ap Gruffydd in 1263. The castle seems to have been of the concentric type with a rectangular outwork towards the S.E." Dyserth Castle was the last of the British fortified defence castles on the Clwydian hill range in the Middle Ages.

Demise

Dyserth Castle was first attacked by the Welsh around 1245. It was attacked a number of times over nearly two decades and was seized and occupied at different periods by the English and Welsh. In 1263, it was totally destroyed by the Welsh prince

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1223 – 11 December 1282), sometimes written as Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, also known as Llywelyn the Last ( cy, Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, lit=Llywelyn, Our Last Leader), was the native Prince of Wales ( la, Princeps Wall ...

after several weeks of a blockade and siege. During World War I, the ridge served as a quarry and much of the former castle ruins were removed.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * *{{cite book, last=Pounds, first=Norman J. G. , title=Medieval Castle in England , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d8babfRDfxwC&pg=PA168, year=1994, publisher=Cambridge University Press, isbn=978-0-521-45828-3

External links

Croes Einion secret writing picture
Castles in Denbighshire Castle ruins in Wales Scheduled monuments in Denbighshire