Coity Castle

Coity Castle stands in Coity Higher, a few minutes from Bridgend in south Wales. Built by Sir Payn ‘the Demon’ de Turberville in the early 12th century, it began as a ringwork and grew into a stone keep with a curtain wall. The site may have been used since Roman times, controlling routes that later became Heol Spencer. A 14th-century church with battlements stands close by, its tower visible from the castle grounds. The castle is now a Grade I listed ruin, its walls still reaching up to nine metres in places. A circular inner ward of about forty-six metres across is surrounded by a ditch and outer enclosures. The remains show where living quarters once stood, with vaulted undercrofts and spiral stairs. The castle’s story includes a month-long siege in 1412 led by William Gamage and Sir Gilbert Denys. Their actions secured the Gamage family’s claim to Coity, and in the 16th century they remodelled the castle for comfortable living. Domestic rooms included a first-floor hall above a vaulted undercroft, a kitchen with ovens, and private apartments on the second floor. A large malting kiln once stood nearby, and latrines were housed in a projecting tower. After the Gamages, the castle passed to the Edwins and then the Earls of Dunraven. Cadw now uses the Welsh name Castell Coety for the site. Visitors can view the southern walls from the main road or walk down Heol yr Eglys to see the eastern and northern sides. The inner ward’s circular shape remains clear, with walls up to thirty feet high still standing. Remains of internal buildings lie within the curtain walls on the western side. The church of St Mary the Virgin, with its fourteenth-century fabric, overlooks the ruins. The contrast between the castle’s military past and the peaceful churchyard creates a quiet place to walk. The site shows how a fortress became a home, then a ruin worth exploring.