GATEHOUSE
The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
Home
The listings
Other Info
Books
Links
Downloads
Contact
 
Print Page 
 
Next Record 
Previous Record 
Back to list 

Domen Ddreiniog, Llanegryn

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Tomen Ddreiniog; Thorny Motte; Tal y Bont; Talybont

In the community of Llanegryn.
In the historic county of Merioneth.
Modern authority of Gwynedd.
Preserved county of Gwynedd.

OS Map Grid Reference: SH59690360
Latitude 52.61205° Longitude -4.07370°

Domen Ddreiniog, Llanegryn has been described as a certain Timber Castle, and also as a probable Palace.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Talybont Castle mound is a near circular mound identified as a medieval castle mount. Set at a former bridging point on the right bank of the Dysynni river, the mount may have been associated with a llys or princely court. This is a steep sided flat-topped mound, 34m in diameter & 7.0m high. The 15m diameter summit is somewhat mutilated. A ploughed out ditch, in 1972 some 10m wide and 0.8m deep, runs around the base of the mound except on the east where it stands over the riverbank. There are no traces of any other defensive works. Llewelyn dated a letter from Talybont in 1275 the king was here in 1295. Other castle mounds in north Wales are associated with apparently unfortified houses, for example Aber in Caernarvonshire (NPRN 95692) and Castell Prysor (NPRN 308964), Crogen (NPRN 306558) and Rug (NPRN 306598) in Merioneth. It is possible that the castle mound was associated with or an adjunct of, the lys. (Coflein–John Wiles 11.07.07)

The monument comprises the remains of a motte and ditch, dating to the medieval period (c. 1066 -1540 AD). A motte is a large conical or pyramidal mound of soil and/or stone, usually surrounded by either a wet or dry ditch, and surmounted by a tower constructed of timber or stone. Domen Ddreiniog, also known as Tal-y-bont, lies on the west bank of the river Dysynni near what was historically its lowest crossing point. The motte measures c.34m in diameter and stands c.7m high above the base of the ditch, with a summit c.15m in diameter. The ditch has been reduced by past cultivation but now appears as a hollow c.0.8m deep and c.10m wide, running out on the slope towards the river. Llewelyn ap Gruffydd addressed a letter from the site in 1275, and Edward I was there in 1295. (Scheduling Report)
Comments

Overgrown hillock on the very edge of the Dysynni. Its history can be inferred only from what is known of similar constructions elsewhere. It has been linked with Castell Cynfael and Tomen Las near Pennal as one of the Motte and Bailey Castles built by the Normans during the phase of expansion, and destroyed, or taken over by the Welsh towards the end of C11. The very marked meander of the river north-east of the motte provides an ideally defended site but presumably, even if the loop was there in mediaeval times, the land inside it was too wet and subject to violent floods to be suitable. It may have been when the mound was constructed there was a similar meander at the base of the mound, forming a bailey suitable for the safe keeping of horses, at least in the dryer months (although, Gatehouse having spent many a 'summer' camping in North Wales, wonders what constitutes a dryer month in Wales.)
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
Coflein   County HER   Scheduling        
Maps >
Streetmap   NLS maps   Where's the path   Old-Maps      
Data/Maps > 
Magic   Historic Wales   V. O. B.   Geology   LIDAR  
Air Photos > 
Bing Maps   Google Maps   Getmapping   ZoomEarth      
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. It may also contain Designated Historic Asset Descriptive Information from The Welsh Historic Environment Service (Cadw), licensed under the Open Government Licence. 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.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely 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.
Lidar coverage in the UK is not complete. The button above will give an idea of the area of coverage. Higher resolution lidar images in both DSM and DTM form may be available from Lle A geo-Portal for Wales (click the preview tag to bring up a map and then select format byclicking on the small blue diamond in the top right corner of the map.)
Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

This record last updated 06/07/2016 19:01:04


¤¤¤¤¤