Dingstopple, Llawhaden

Has been described as a Possible Timber Castle (Motte)

There are earthwork remains

NameDingstopple, Llawhaden
Alternative Names
Historic CountryPembrokeshire
Modern AuthorityPembrokeshire
1974 AuthorityDyfed
CommunityLlawhaden

A flat-topped subcircular mound, c.17-18m in diameter, ditched to the S, where it faces rising ground. (Coflein record of ?motte)

The monument comprises the remains of a motte and ditch, dating to the medieval period (c. 1066 -1540 AD). A motte is a large conical or pyramidal mound of soil and/or stone, usually surrounded by either a wet or dry ditch, and surmounted by a tower constructed of timber or stone. Dingstopple Castle Mound stands to a height of c 3m with a c 6m chamber across summit which is saucer shaped. There is a ditch 4 to 5m wide all around, partly formed by a small stream on the east. (Scheduling Report)

Gatehouse Comments

Small mound with wet ditch in unstrategic position, may be a burial mound. Scheduled as a motte. Is near a spring but nothing else about the location suggests medieval occupation. Seems to be recorded in the RCAHMW Inventory as a tumulus - suggesting a pre-historic burial mound - and its difficulty to see why anyone would have though anything else but does seem to be accepted as a motte without much question by the usual castle studies authors.

- Philip Davis

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

Not Listed

The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSN060185
Latitude51.8321990966797
Longitude-4.81557989120483
Eastings206090
Northings218590
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink
Copyright Dave Barlow of Abaroths World All Rights ReservedView full Sized Image

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Books

  • Morgan, Gerald, 2008, Castles in Wales: A Handbook (Talybont: Y Lolfa Cyf.) p. 247 (listed)
  • Hull, Lise, 2005, Castles and Bishops Palaces of Pembrokeshire (Logaston Press) p. 86
  • Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p. 178
  • Davis, Paul, 2000, A Company of Forts. A Guide to the Medieval Castles of West Wales (Gomer Press) p. 32
  • Salter, Mike, 1996, The Castles of South West Wales (Malvern) p. 86 (slight)
  • Miles, Dillwyn, 1979 (Revised 1988), Castles of Pembrokeshire (Pembrokeshire Coast National Park) p. 5-7
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 394
  • RCAHMW, 1925, An inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Pembrokeshire (HMSO) p. 137 no. 369 (as tumulus) online copy

Journals

  • Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1963, 'Early castles in Wales and the Marches: a preliminary list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 112 p. 77-124