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Long before the
Normans began their castle-building program, Iron Age settlers used the
hilltop called Pen Dinas to build a huge fortification, which still
dominates the skyline as you approach Aberystwyth from the south and
reminds us of the skills of its ancient builders.
The first Norman
castle was a ringwork affair castle, built in the early 12th Century.
Inevitably, the earth and timber defences proved too vulnerable and a
new site was chosen for a castle in Aberystwyth itself. This time it was
the Welsh, led by Llywelyn the Great who built the castle and it changed
hands several times before finally became useless against new weapons.
The last castle built at Aberystwyth once ranked among the greatest in
Wales but today, lies entirely ruined and offering only a faint image of
its once impressive past.
How then did Aberystwyth Castle become such a ruin? Amazingly, as early
as the 14th century, the concentric fortress began to decay. By 1343,
large portions of the main gateway and drawbridges, and the outer bailey
were falling down. The closeness of the castle to the pounding sea
causing much of the decay.
In 1404, Owain Glyndwr
seized the crumbling fortress. Within a few years the English regained
possession but after 1408, Aberystwyth Castle lost its strategic value
to the monarchy, and only minor repairs were attempted. During the Civil
War, the castle became a victim of Oliver Cromwell's ruthless policy of
slighting because the garrison sided with the king, Charles I. Most of
the castle stone was pilfered by locals to build their homes.
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