Kidwelly Castle

Kidwelly Castle stands on a rise above the River Gwendraeth, its stone walls overlooking the town of Kidwelly in Carmarthenshire. The castle began as an earth and timber ringwork built soon after the Normans took the area in 1106. Maurice de Londres held it when Welsh princess Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd was captured and beheaded nearby in 1136. Rhys ap Gruffudd, her son later called the Lord Rhys, took the castle in 1159 and again around 1190. Payn de Chaworth started the present stone castle in the 1270s, building a square inner ward with round corner towers. The castle’s plan shows a square inner bailey defended by four round towers, with a massive gatehouse at the southern angle. The great gatehouse was begun in 1388–89 by John of Gaunt, its twin-towered outer section fronting a rectangular residential block. A polygonal chapel tower and hall range were added by William de Valence, reflecting a south Welsh style. The inner towers were raised in the 1390s so they could still overlook the outer ward. A new ditch, thorn hedges and a timber tower were added as rebellion threatened in the early 15th century. Visitors walk among the remains of the inner ward and outer curtain wall, with views over the river and town. The gatehouse’s two-part design and the chapel tower’s pyramid spur bases can still be seen. The castle’s story includes attacks in 1403 and 1404, a siege led by Henry Dwnn, and later modernisation by Rhys ap Thomas. The ruins now belong to Cadw and stand as a reminder of the castle’s long role in Welsh and English power struggles.