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Overview

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.


Opening times

Daily 10am–4pm

Last admission 30 minutes before closing

Closed 24, 25, 26 December and 1 January


Prices

Category Price
Admission
Free

Facilities

Dogs welcome icon Car park icon No drones icon No smoking icon

Dogs on leads welcome to access ground floor levels of the site.

Lay by parking for 5 cars.

Access is across farmland, approx. 500 metres from roadside.

Cadw do not allow drone flying from or over its guardianship sites, except by contractors commissioned for a specific purpose, who satisfy stringent CAA criteria, have the correct insurances and are operating under controlled conditions.

Smoking is not permitted.


Directions

Road
Road 1m (1.6km) NW of Ewloe, 2m (3.2km) NW of Hawarden, off A55. Hawarden 13/4m (2.8km)

Postcode CH5 3BZ

For further information, please contact: Traveline Cymru on 0871 200 2233 or National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50.