Castles / GB / Wales
Aberedw Castle
Which definitions does it satisfy?
This dataset does not record whether something “is a castle”. It records a verdict against each named definition, with the reasoning that produced it.
| Definition | Verdict | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Fortified residence | yes | Meets both halves of the criterion on the designation evidence. Active defence: a curtain wall still standing to c.1.9m, round towers of c.6m diameter at each corner, a ditch on three sides, and an entrance broken by a causeway across it. Lordly residence: slight traces of internal buildings, and Walter Hakelutel received a LICENCE TO CRENELLATE by 1285 — the documentary class Coulson reads as a royal acknowledgement of private seigneurial status rather than a military permission, which is precisely what this band means by a lord's fortified residence. |
| Enclosure fortification | no | The primary work is a masonry castle with an identified lord, not an enclosure whose bank or wall is itself the monument. The band explicitly routes any site with an identified lordly residence to fortified_residence instead. |
| State fortification | no | Seigneurial, not state. Built by or for Walter Hakelutel in the wake of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd's defeat; a licence to crenellate is the crown acknowledging a private work, not commissioning or garrisoning one. |
| Palatial seat | no | No palatial phase at any point. The castle is not recorded beyond the 14th century and the masonry was already crumbling; nothing was rebuilt here as a residence of display. |
| Revival and folly | no | Genuine late-13th-century defensive fabric, securely dated to c.1284-5. Nothing here was built in castle form after the defensive era for effect. |
| Popularly a castle | unassessed | No source consulted so far speaks to this definition. Unassessed is not the same as no. |
Facts
| Tradition | european medieval |
|---|---|
| Location | Aberedw, Powys, Wales, GB |
| Built | Medieval |
| Confidence | medium |
| First recorded | 2026-07-21 |
| Last updated | 2026-07-21 |
In the registers
Where this structure appears in official inventories. This is what turns an individual record into evidence about a count.
- Cof Cymru — National Historic Assets of Wales —
RD029· Scheduled Monument — SiteType: Castle · entry
Location
Approximate. © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Notes
ASSESSED against the six band criteria on 2026-07-22, reading Cadw's full designation report rather than transcribing the register row. This record was previously a bulk import carrying one register-derived verdict at confidence: low; it now carries a verdict per band, each with a basis that engages that band's criterion, and the importer no longer owns it.
Sources
- Cof Cymru - National Historic Assets of Wales — Cadw, 2026-07-21
Register entry; the sole source for this record. - Scheduled Monument Full Report — Aberedw Castle — Cadw, 2026-07-22
The designation text: fabric, defensive features, period and documentary history. The evidence these verdicts were assessed against.
Signals
Raw per-source observations behind this record (1):
sig-20260721-cadw-rd029
Record file · dataset licensed CC BY 4.0 — see provenance.