The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.

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Caerau Motte, Treflys

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Twdin; Treflis King

In the community of Treflys.
In the historic county of Brecknockshire.
Modern authority of Powys.
Preserved county of Powys.

OS Map Grid Reference: SN92305013
Latitude 52.13897° Longitude -3.57508°

Caerau Motte, Treflys has been described as a certain Timber Castle.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

A castle mound or motte set astride the south-western defences of Caerau Roman fort (NPRN 92153). The mound is 23m in diameter and 4.5m high and its level summit is 5.0-9.0m wide. An erstwhile duckpond on the north-east may have been a vestige of a moat. Such mottes are often found in isolation and would have reared up beside otherwise unfortified courts or manor houses. (Coflein–ref. John Wiles 25.04.07)

Not quite sure what the Coflein report means by 'such mottes are often found in isolation' although this seems to be a reference to the lack of a bailey. Certainly there do seem to be a number of isolated mottes in Wales and the marches with associated farmhouses where the function of the motte is normally suggested as a watch tower (regardless of the view actually obtainable) but which may well have symbolised the knightly status of the farms tenant.

Links to mapping and other online resources
Data >	Coflein	County HER
Maps >	OS getamap	Streetmap	Old-Maps	Where's the path
Data/Maps >	Magic	Vision of Britain	EarthTools
Air Photos >	Bing Maps	Google Maps	Getmapping	Flashearth
Photos >	CastleFacts	Geograph	Flickr	Panoramio

Sources of information, references and further reading

The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s) for this site is/are 305038.
The County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) for this site is/are 50470.

Books
- Morgan, Gerald, 2008, Castles in Wales: A Handbook (Talybont: Y Lolfa Cyf.) p. 232 (listed)
  Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of Mid Wales (Malvern) p. 16
  Remfry, Paul, 1998, Castles of Breconshire (Logaston Press) p. 189 (plan)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 21
  Lewis, Samual, 1849, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales view online copy
Periodical Articles
- Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1963, 'Early castles in Wales and the Marches: a preliminary list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 112 p. 77-124
  King, D.J.C., 1961, ‘The castles of Breconshire’ Brycheiniog Vol. 7 p. 93 no. 37 view online copy

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales, the four welsh archaeological trusts and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself. The information within this site is provided freely by me for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown.
Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get.

This record last updated on Wednesday, May 1, 2013

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