Dolbadarn Castle
Dolbadarn Castle rests on a rocky hillock at the tip of
Llyn Padarn, perched above a roadway near
Llanberis, in
north Wales. It was built by the princes of
Gwynedd some time before
1230 and was active through at least
1284.
The castle, built by
Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great), remains solidly built. It stands in a spot of strategic importance, allowing any garrison stationed there to block movement from the north to the rest of Wales. Scholars believe the spot has been occupied as a fortress of some sort since the
6th Century, though the surviving stonework only dates back to the
1200s.
Dolbadarn Castle's hallmark feature is a round tower built of slate and rubble that once stood three stories high, enclosing a complex series of chambers. Today the tower stands just 40 feet tall, but is still girded by walls 8 feet thick. While the castle's flooring has long since disappeared, its interior staircase to the upper story may still be climbed. Scholars speculate that this upper story probably supported
hoarding, a type of wooden defensive platform.
Today, only the lowest foundations of the castle's outer buildings still stand. The ruins conform roughly to the shape of a sock, with rectangular towers joined by a
curtain wall and a large rectangular hall at one end. There remain two
open hearths inside where the hall would have stood.
Though it is not certain, scholars believe
Llywelyn the Last used Dolbadarn's tower to imprison his brother,
Owain ap Gruffydd during their struggle for control of Northern Wales in the
1250s. Owain spent 20 years in prison, possibly on the upper floor of Dolbadarn's tower.
Later, during the Welsh princes' revolt against the English king
Edward I, Dolbadarn Castle was held by another of Llywelyn's brothers,
Dafydd ap Gruffydd. But the castle succumbed to the army of the
Earl of Pembroke, and in
1282 (the year Llywelyn died), Dolbadarn fell to the English army. Within two years the castle was abandoned and its timber and stone used for scrap.
Dolbadarn was the site of one last battle during the Welsh uprisings around
1400, when
Owain Glyndŵr led the Welsh against the English. Glyndŵr may have used Dolbadarn's keep to hold prisoners.
Dolbadarn is now being cared for by
Cadw, which also maintains a memorial to the Welsh princes at Dolbadarn.
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Dolbadarn Castle, from Llanberis' Website
