Castell Ewloe

Native-built castle in an unconventional forest setting

Though it bears the distinctive features of many of Wales’s native-built castles, Ewloe’s location marks it out as an individual. While the Welsh princes generally chose lofty vantage points for their fortresses, Ewloe sits in a hollow amid deep woodland.

The setting may seem idyllic today, but these borderlands were once hotly contested territory where the English and Welsh frequently clashed.

Due to the lack of records from the period, the castle’s history is a little murky. The characteristically Welsh D-shaped stone tower was probably built by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) some time after 1210, with the curtain walls and circular western tower being added by Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (Llywelyn the Last) nearly 60 years later.