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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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Castell Abereinon

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Cilcraig; Cil y Craig

In the community of Llandysul.
In the historic county of Cardiganshire.
Modern authority of Ceredigion.
Preserved county of Dyfed.

OS Map Grid Reference: SN454427
Latitude 52.06212° Longitude -4.25473°

Castell Abereinon has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Documentary sources note the existence of an earthwork castle in this general area. This has been identified with the hill above Cil Craig farm but there is no evidence for a motte on the hill though outcrops of hard beds of rock on the hill's summit give the appearance of a costellated hill. CAS 1988. Meyrick mentions a "mouted tumulus" which he likens to Castell Gwynionedd, which is a ring work. Site destroyed. (Dyfed Archaeological Trust HER)

At the junction of the Cletwr with the Einon; 'another circular moated tumulus, resembling (Castell Gwynionydd), now called Cil y graig, but formerly Castell Abereinon, which the Welsh Chronicle says was built by Malgwn, in the year 1205' (Merrick, p. 192) (King, 1956)
Comments

Antiquarian reference to motte ("A circular moated tumulus, now called Cil y Craig" Meyrick), but nothing survives. Suggested as a site for the Castell Abereinion recorded in 1169 and 1206, as a castle built by Rhys ap Griffith, which may otherwise be Domen Las. Armitage writes it is marked on the 25-inch O.M. but King writes he has been all over the area and found no motte and that no edition of the Ordnance Map marks a mound. There is a quarry nearby and King suggests that it is possible that this reported mound may have been quarried away.
Abereinon and Cilgraig exist as placenames on the modern map both as north of the Afon Einon. On the 1889 OS map Cil-graig is marked just north of the road crossing (but not as an antiquity) and Aber-Einon is south of the river. The Aber-Einon farmstead is close to the parish church. It may be that 'received' wisdom about castles being hilltop structures has lead to people looking on the wrong side of the Einon for this historic castle site.
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Sources of information, references and further reading
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This record last updated before 1 February 2016


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