Aberystwyth Castle

Marcher lord Gilbert de Clare built an earlier motte and bailey castle a mile south of the current site in around 1110. In 1116 it was unsuccessfully besieged by Gruffydd ap Rhys, King of Deheubarth. He was eventually successful in 1136, capturing it and burning it to the ground with the help of Owain Gwynedd and his brother, Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd, the sons of Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of Gwynedd. Their sister, Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd, Gruffydd ap Rhys's wife, had been killed in battle by Gruffudd ab Llywelyn, who commanded for the Norman, Maurice de Londres. She had taken a force to meet him in battle at Kidwelly. Owain Gwynedd gave the castle to Cadwaladr to rebuild, but in 1143, Cadwaladr…

Building work started in 1277 at the time of the First Welsh War, during Edward I's first Welsh campaign at the same time as work started at Flint, Rhuddlan and Builth Wells. The inner ward was built in a diamond-shaped concentric castle, with a twin D-shaped gatehouse keep and mural towers at each corner. The inner ward is enclosed by a narrow outer ward, and there was an encllosure to the north that has been lost to coastal erosion. The original building had no inner curtain wall to the west, prior to the war of 1282–83, after which it was added. <gallery mode=packed heights=130> Image:Aberystwyth Casrle - Original Site.jpg|Site of original Aberystwyth Castle at Tan-y-Castell…