Dolforwyn Castle
Dolforwyn Castle
4.5
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4.5
53 opiniones
Excelente
29
Muy bueno
20
Promedio
4
Mala
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Tony M
Doveridge, UK56 aportes
mar de 2024 • Familia
The weather was awful but this site could never disappoint. Yes it’s a bit of a lung-buster walk up but so worth it. The views towards England and the uniqueness of the site and the build itself. You can visualise seeing the English approach over the Severn. Why build a castle with no well though? Not to be compared with the amazing Ludlow castle, deep routed as that is in the Wars of the Roses a hundred years later. But for 120 years this castle was a real part of Welsh history.
Escrita el 27 de marzo de 2024
Esta opinión es la opinión subjetiva de un miembro de Tripadvisor, no de Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor les hace controles a todas las opiniones.
MR19702602
Staffordshire, UK1,456 aportes
ago de 2023 • Pareja
Fabulous views once you’ve trekked up the hill. Not for those with mobility issues. Once up there the views are simply stunning
Escrita el 31 de agosto de 2023
Esta opinión es la opinión subjetiva de un miembro de Tripadvisor, no de Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor les hace controles a todas las opiniones.
NATALIE S
Halifax, UK24 aportes
ago de 2023 • Familia
We arrived and there is a small parking area where we managed to park both cars. Then you go through a gate and up quite a long steep track. Then you come to another gate where the walk is a bit easier and not quite as steep.
My 80 year old mum was with us and luckily she is quite fit but my son held her hand all the way and almost dragged her up the hill.
When we got the the top you could walk around the ruins and the views across the valley were lovely.
We took 2 little dogs with us and we all enjoyed a picturesque walk on a warm day. Worth a visit for a walk out and a change of scenery but not good for pushchairs, wheelchairs, disabled, toddlers etc
My 80 year old mum was with us and luckily she is quite fit but my son held her hand all the way and almost dragged her up the hill.
When we got the the top you could walk around the ruins and the views across the valley were lovely.
We took 2 little dogs with us and we all enjoyed a picturesque walk on a warm day. Worth a visit for a walk out and a change of scenery but not good for pushchairs, wheelchairs, disabled, toddlers etc
Escrita el 18 de agosto de 2023
Esta opinión es la opinión subjetiva de un miembro de Tripadvisor, no de Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor les hace controles a todas las opiniones.
Paul O
Wrexham, UK42 aportes
jun de 2023 • Solitario
Little known Welsh castle with fantastic views. The walk is a little tough but it is well worth making the effort the ruins themselves are a fascinating glimpse in to medieval history lots left to see if your willing to take the time to look.
Escrita el 6 de julio de 2023
Esta opinión es la opinión subjetiva de un miembro de Tripadvisor, no de Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor les hace controles a todas las opiniones.
hopehousecottage
Worcester, UK539 aportes
abr de 2023
Native Welsh castles (as opposed to those imposed on Wales by the English) are frequently characterised by the way they stubbornly cling to and follow the contours of whichever rocky outcrop was chosen for their construction. This often leads to pleasingly bonkers shapes and largely unfathomable layouts.
Dolforwyn bucks that trend. Begun in 1273 it is the only castle built by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (“the Last”) and is the last native Welsh castle to be constructed. Recent improvements in Welsh castle design (such as the discovery of the rectangle) meant that Dolforwyn saw its builders shape the hill on which it sits to suit their design rather than the other way around. They also decided on a “one of each” approach when it came to towers. Consequently Dolforwyn had a square tower at one end, a round tower at the other and that old Welsh favourite, a D-shaped tower in the northern curtain wall between the two. The other thing that the Welsh loved when it came to castle design was a good rock cut ditch over which they could build a bridge that could be destroyed whenever the English came knocking. There’s one here - a ditch that it is. The bridge is long gone.
The English first came knocking in 1277 and the Welsh destroyed the bridge and retreated inside the castle. This turned out to be a bad idea because it meant that the small town that had sprung up just outside was destroyed and because Llywelyn had forgotten to dig a well inside the defenders soon ran out of water and had to surrender to the besieging English.
Edward I handed the castle over to Roger Mortimer (not all that English as it turns out, he was a cousin of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd - they were both grandsons of Llywelyn ap Iowerth - “the Great”). Mortimer busied himself with digging the well that Llewelyn forgot and moving the settlement a little further down the valley and founding a new town that is, imaginatively, still called Newtown even after nearly 750 years.
In the following decades the castle passed first to Edmund Mortimer and then onto his son another Roger. It was this second Roger Mortimer who would gain historical notoriety for being possibly responsible for the murder of Edward II with, allegedly, a red hot poker being poked where a red hot poker should not be poked, but all that is another story. Needless to say second Roger the Second eventually got his comeuppance, lost all his estates, including Dolforwyn and was executed in 1322. The castle seems to have bumbled along as an inhabited building for about another 60 years but by 1381 was reported as being in a poor state of repair and ruinous by 1398. It pretty much disappears from records for almost 600 years before it comes into the hands of what is now Cadw in 1955. Cadw excavated the site to reveal pretty much what we see today.
There’s always a special feeling of peace and tranquility and even a little melancholy about the ruins of these native Welsh castles that you don’t get with the brash showiness of the flashier English built ones like Conwy, Caernarfon or Caerphilly. Perhaps this has more to do with the fact that these castles were built by the conquered to protect their lands rather than the conquerer to intimidate the locals and the settlements around them, if there are any tend to be smaller, quieter places rather than bustling towns.
Whatever the reason, Dolforwyn Castle is a fascinating place that oozes history. The signage is good and informative but leaves enough room for your imagination. The views are stunning. Visit in combination with a trip to nearby Montgomery Castle for the full effect of two sides of the argument.
Parking is limited on a narrow country lane and the walk up to the castle is uneven, steep and quite long. Decent shoes required. Access is free but not easy.
Dolforwyn bucks that trend. Begun in 1273 it is the only castle built by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (“the Last”) and is the last native Welsh castle to be constructed. Recent improvements in Welsh castle design (such as the discovery of the rectangle) meant that Dolforwyn saw its builders shape the hill on which it sits to suit their design rather than the other way around. They also decided on a “one of each” approach when it came to towers. Consequently Dolforwyn had a square tower at one end, a round tower at the other and that old Welsh favourite, a D-shaped tower in the northern curtain wall between the two. The other thing that the Welsh loved when it came to castle design was a good rock cut ditch over which they could build a bridge that could be destroyed whenever the English came knocking. There’s one here - a ditch that it is. The bridge is long gone.
The English first came knocking in 1277 and the Welsh destroyed the bridge and retreated inside the castle. This turned out to be a bad idea because it meant that the small town that had sprung up just outside was destroyed and because Llywelyn had forgotten to dig a well inside the defenders soon ran out of water and had to surrender to the besieging English.
Edward I handed the castle over to Roger Mortimer (not all that English as it turns out, he was a cousin of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd - they were both grandsons of Llywelyn ap Iowerth - “the Great”). Mortimer busied himself with digging the well that Llewelyn forgot and moving the settlement a little further down the valley and founding a new town that is, imaginatively, still called Newtown even after nearly 750 years.
In the following decades the castle passed first to Edmund Mortimer and then onto his son another Roger. It was this second Roger Mortimer who would gain historical notoriety for being possibly responsible for the murder of Edward II with, allegedly, a red hot poker being poked where a red hot poker should not be poked, but all that is another story. Needless to say second Roger the Second eventually got his comeuppance, lost all his estates, including Dolforwyn and was executed in 1322. The castle seems to have bumbled along as an inhabited building for about another 60 years but by 1381 was reported as being in a poor state of repair and ruinous by 1398. It pretty much disappears from records for almost 600 years before it comes into the hands of what is now Cadw in 1955. Cadw excavated the site to reveal pretty much what we see today.
There’s always a special feeling of peace and tranquility and even a little melancholy about the ruins of these native Welsh castles that you don’t get with the brash showiness of the flashier English built ones like Conwy, Caernarfon or Caerphilly. Perhaps this has more to do with the fact that these castles were built by the conquered to protect their lands rather than the conquerer to intimidate the locals and the settlements around them, if there are any tend to be smaller, quieter places rather than bustling towns.
Whatever the reason, Dolforwyn Castle is a fascinating place that oozes history. The signage is good and informative but leaves enough room for your imagination. The views are stunning. Visit in combination with a trip to nearby Montgomery Castle for the full effect of two sides of the argument.
Parking is limited on a narrow country lane and the walk up to the castle is uneven, steep and quite long. Decent shoes required. Access is free but not easy.
Escrita el 13 de abril de 2023
Esta opinión es la opinión subjetiva de un miembro de Tripadvisor, no de Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor les hace controles a todas las opiniones.
Neil
Rainhill, UK6 aportes
mar de 2023 • Pareja
The views were fantastic over the surrounding countryside (once you've negotiated the steep 500m walk/climb from the car park!). The track up was in good condition although a little muddy, but what do you expect in the countryside. Lots of information on signs around the ruins. We were lucky with the weather. Dog friendly, although some of the metal stairways and bridges were unsuitable for our dogs (Greyhounds), but we still had access to most of the castle ruins. Free car parking for 4 to 5 vehicles. Well worth the visit.
Escrita el 25 de marzo de 2023
Esta opinión es la opinión subjetiva de un miembro de Tripadvisor, no de Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor les hace controles a todas las opiniones.
Jeanette P
Northampton, UK110 aportes
mar de 2022
Walked here from Dolforwyn hall and whilst it puffed me out, a more fitter person would be fine. Take your walking boots though. Beautiful site with lots to read about the site and fabulous views. Would be an ideal location for a picnic. There is a parking spot if you take your car, just opposite the gated entrance.
Escrita el 14 de marzo de 2022
Esta opinión es la opinión subjetiva de un miembro de Tripadvisor, no de Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor les hace controles a todas las opiniones.
Louise S
Middlesbrough, UK40 aportes
mar de 2022
This is wonderful place to visit and well worth the steep path up to the top. The views are amazing and the information boards are detailed and interesting. We found this having visited Montgomery castle and it was great to see Llywelyn ap Gruffydd's castle. We visited on a very windy day, but can imagine it would be lovely for a picnic in summer. There is a small carpark at the bottom of the path, but only room for a couple of cars.
Escrita el 6 de marzo de 2022
Esta opinión es la opinión subjetiva de un miembro de Tripadvisor, no de Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor les hace controles a todas las opiniones.
Jryb
Oxford, UK8 aportes
oct de 2020
A beautiful castle which we had completely to ourselves when we visited. Information about the castle is on boards in most rooms. Slightly hard to find so keep an eye out for the castle symbol when you leave the main road
Escrita el 4 de octubre de 2020
Esta opinión es la opinión subjetiva de un miembro de Tripadvisor, no de Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor les hace controles a todas las opiniones.
Squizzys adventures
Roade, UK114 aportes
ago de 2020 • Familia
We walked up the back not from the standard car pack and then back down via the woods. Fab both ways.
Take a picnic and hide behind one of the large walls and enjoy the view.
Great fun, and free too.
Loads for the kids to explore and imagine being knights!
Take a picnic and hide behind one of the large walls and enjoy the view.
Great fun, and free too.
Loads for the kids to explore and imagine being knights!
Escrita el 26 de agosto de 2020
Esta opinión es la opinión subjetiva de un miembro de Tripadvisor, no de Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor les hace controles a todas las opiniones.
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