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

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Coyty; Coety

In the community of Coity Higher.
In the historic county of Glamorgan.
Modern authority of Bridgend.
Preserved county of Mid Glamorgan.

OS Map Grid Reference: SS92308149
Latitude 51.52202° Longitude -3.55317°

Coity Castle has been described as a certain Timber Castle, and also as a certain Masonry Castle.

There are major building remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.
Description

Prominently sited above Heol West Plas, Coity Castle was founded in the early twelfth century and was granted to the Norman family of Turberville. By the end of the twelfth century the original timber defences were largely replaced by stone. Further defensive improvements were carried out following damages caused by the Welsh uprising of 1404-1405: a new west gate was built to the outer ward, the south tower was converted into a gatehouse and a link wall was built between the inner and outer ward curtain walls. Also the ditch between inner and outer wards was infilled and a north east gatehouse was added to the inner ward, facing St Mary's Church. By the mid eighteenth century Coity Castle was largely in ruins. The remains consist of a circular inner ward, with three storey keep on the north west side and a fourteenth century domestic block to the south side. To the north east of this block is the chapel, the interior of which only survives at basement level. There is a well to in the inner ward, along with some stone paving. The inner ward is enclosed on the north, east and south sides by a ditch with a faceted curtain wall, on the west side of which is an outer ward with curtain wall. The high outer ward curtain wall features a fifteenth century gatehouse to the west, which is now the main entrance. (Coflein)

Castle in five periods, consisting of two wards, the inner (with keep) adapted from an earlier ringwork, the outer probably replacing a bailey contemporary with the ringwork. Period 1 ( c110) palisaded castle-ringwork, probbaly with bailey: Period 2 (late 12th century) keep, over half of the curtain wwall of the inner ward: Period 3 (14th century) in inner ward - middle gate, rebuild of keep (with projecting round tower), domestic block; outer ward - west gate, walls and towers: Period 4 (15th century) improvements to defences, including rebuild after substantial breaches, inner ward - NE gatehouse, chapel (in two phases), southern cross wall; outer ward - barn, conversion of south tower into gatehouse, replacement of southwest tower by postern, turret built over infilled west ditch, west gatehouse built: Period 5 (Tudor) improvements to domestic arrangements, all in inner ward (RCAHMW 1991, 218-58 MR1) (Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust HER)

Although originally established soon after 1100, much of the castle dates from C14 and later. Parts were rebuilt following the siege by Owain Glyn Dwr in 1404-5. Sub-circular ditched enclosure, c.36-42m in diameter, with sub-rectangular enclosure, c.55m E-W by 36m, attached on the W, both are defined by ruins of towered curtain walls, with extensive remains of internal buildings.
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

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.
*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of the described site.

This record last updated on Wednesday, May 1, 2013
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