Sycharth Castle

Sycharth was a motte-and-bailey castle near Llansilin in Powys, Wales. It stands in the valley of the river Cynllaith, a tributary of the Afon Tanat. The site lies about a kilometre west of the boundary between England and Wales. A belt of woodland called Parc Sycharth rises on the higher ground to the east. To the west is a farm that once served as the township’s courthouse in the 19th century. The castle is on a minor road close to the B4580, south of Llansilin and southwest of Oswestry. Cadw now looks after the site. Sycharth matters because it was the birthplace of Owain Glyndŵr. Madog Crypl, a descendant of the Princes of Powys, held the commotes of Cynllaith and Edeyrnion around 1300. Owain inherited the manor in 1369 and lived there with his wife Margaret Hanmer and their children. The poet Iolo Goch praised its nine symmetrical halls and tiled roofs in the 14th century. Excavations in the early 1960s found two timber halls, one 43 metres long, and signs of burning in 1403. Prince Henry, later Henry V, ordered the site destroyed that year during the revolt against Glyndŵr. Visitors find a low, flat-topped mound surrounded by farmland and woodland. The remains of the timber halls lie beneath the grassy surface. Information boards explain the site’s history and connections to Owain Glyndŵr. Parc Sycharth’s trees frame views across the valley. The nearby farm still carries the name of the old courthouse. The quiet minor road offers a short walk from the small car park to the mound.