Ogmore Castle

Ogmore Castle stands in the Vale of Glamorgan, on the south bank of the Ewenny River and the east bank of the River Ogmore. Its earthworks form an oval shape enclosing an area about fifty metres long and thirty-five metres wide. The inner ward was once flat and held timber buildings before stone replaced wood. The keep, built in the 1120s by Maurice de Londres, is probably the oldest Norman keep in Glamorgan. Only three of its original walls remain, built from field stones, glacial pebbles and Lias limestone. A deep rock-cut ditch once surrounded the grounds, filled only when high tide from the Ewenny River rose. The castle was begun around 1106 and used until the 19th century as a court of justice and a prison. It passed through the hands of the de Londres family to the Earls of Lancaster in 1298 and remains owned by the Duchy of Lancaster. Nearby Ewenny Abbey and Ewenny Priory were founded by the same family soon after the castle’s construction. A courthouse built in the 14th century was rebuilt in the mid-15th century and again in 1454 after damage during Owain Glyndŵr’s revolt. The present ruins consist mainly of the keep and outer walls. Visitors find the keep and sections of the outer walls rising from grassy mounds beside the rivers. A well-preserved lime kiln stands over an earlier structure within the grounds. From the ruins, views stretch towards sandhills along the coast nearly as far as Briton Ferry. Opposite the castle lies Merthyr Mawr, reached by a footpath, where two sculptured crosses stand. Nearby stepping stones across the river are a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and several circular shallows are said to have sunk spontaneously. The ghost Y Ladi Wen is said to guard hidden treasure in the old tower.