Blog – Garn Fawr Castle Mound; Garn Fawr Circle; Castell Waunllannu; Cnwe; Yr hen goer (The Old Castle).

• Carmarthenshire, Wales.
• OSGB – SN 396237.
• Coflein Monument Number – 303724.

Norman Ringwork Castle.

The site dates from between c.1066-1540 and has not yet had any serious archaeological investigation.

Within its immediate landscape are a natural spring and an old chapel, possibly associated with the original site.

The mound stands 6.1m high and measures 167.6m round, with the summit measuring 27.4m in diameter. There is a dip within the summit measuring 1.5m deep.

Surrounding the site is a ditch, which on the western side measures up to 1.82m deep. The entrance was located to the north-east. It is believed to have also once had a bank which there are now no visible signs of today.

There is scant evidence that it once had a bailey, as would be expected of the early motte and bailey type castles.

It is recorded that in 1860 a stone wall measuring 1.5m high and 1.8m wide was removed from the site. There is no other information about this structure. (Coflein. 2021).

The chapel site nearby was known as Llanfihangel Croesfeini. There is little known about this site and it may have been associated with Garn Fawr Castle Mound. It is located 50m north of the mound,

1844         The chapel was located within a field by the name of Lan Chapel (Coflein. 2021).

1847         The chapel was demolished.

1889         Recorded as the ‘site of’ on the OS map.

This site holds tightly onto its past. I have searched far and wide and this is the only information I have been able to ‘dig’ up.

If you have access to any more history or facts, please contact me below!

References  

 CADW. 2021. Scheduled Monuments- Full Report – Garn-Fawr Castle Mound. Click Here.

Coflein. 2021. Garn Fawr Circle Available at  https://coflein.gov.uk/cy/safle/303724 Accessed 26 December 2021.

Coflein. 2021. Llanfihangel Croesfeini, Chapel Site, Newchurch. Available at https://coflein.gov.uk/cy/safle/417808/. Accessed 26 December 2021.

Pettifer. A. 2000. Welsh Castles: A Guide by Counties. Boydell Press.

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions in Wales and Monmouthshire. 1917. An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire County of Carmarthen. Volume 5. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments.