Craig Ruperra Motte

Ruperra Motte stands on a ridge called Coed Craig Ruperra near the village of Draethen in Caerphilly County Borough. It is a medieval motte and bailey castle built around 1100 by the Normans. The motte rises six metres above the ground and has a flat top twelve metres wide. Below the motte lies a grassy bailey where wooden buildings once stood. The site overlooks the surrounding valleys and was part of the Norman advance into south-east Wales. Later, when Caerphilly Castle was built in 1274, Ruperra Motte fell out of use. The motte sits on the remains of an earlier Iron Age hillfort called Craig Ruperra Hillfort. Cadw describes the site as nationally important because it preserves traces of three periods: the hillfort, the motte, and 18th-century garden earthworks. The Trust that now owns the land calls it a multi-period defensive site with considerable archaeological potential. Morgraig Castle and the early motte at Castell Coch lie along the same ridge. Ruperra Motte is protected as a Scheduled Monument within a Grade II listed historic park. Visitors walk up the grassy motte to reach the flat summit. From the top there are wide views across the valleys towards Newport and the surrounding hills. The bailey below is quiet and grassy, with no standing buildings left. Nearby, the Registered Historic Park includes Ruperra Castle and 18th-century landscape features. The Conservation Trust manages the site and keeps the remains in good condition. The area is peaceful, with footpaths leading through the wooded ridge.