Castles / GB / Wales
Castell Morgraig
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 | Ruined pentagonal walled enclosure c.40m across with its angles "defined by the remains of four towers and on the east a keep", described by Cadw for its "medieval defensive and domestic practices" — active defence (angle towers, a keep) coincident with lordly domestic use on the southern boundary of Welsh Senghennydd. |
| Enclosure fortification | unassessed | No source consulted so far speaks to this definition. Unassessed is not the same as no. |
| State fortification | unassessed | No source consulted so far speaks to this definition. Unassessed is not the same as no. |
| Palatial seat | unassessed | No source consulted so far speaks to this definition. Unassessed is not the same as no. |
| Revival and folly | no | A masonry castle "thought to have been built in the mid thirteenth century", within the defensive era; not a post-defensive aesthetic construction. |
| 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 | Caerphilly, Caerphilly, Wales, GB |
| Built | Medieval |
| Confidence | medium |
| First recorded | 2026-07-21 |
| Last updated | 2026-07-22 |
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 —
GM031· Scheduled Monument — SiteType: Castle · entry
Location
Approximate. © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Notes
Upgraded from bulk register import to assessed verdicts. fortified_residence and revival_folly assessed from the report's keep-and-four-towers description and "defensive and domestic practices". The report notes the castle "may not have been completed" and identifies no specific lord, but the keep, towers and domestic function support the fortified_residence criterion. popular_castle is OMITTED — an obscure ridge-top ruin with no visitor operation or public-standing evidence in the report; asserting it would inflate the one band with no register to check it. enclosure_fortification (this is a masonry keep-and-tower castle, not a prehistoric enclosure) and state_fortification omitted. Confidence medium.
Sources
- Scheduled Monument Full Report — Castell Morgraig — Cadw, 2026-07-22
Cadw's full scheduled-monument report (GM031); the sole source, read in full for the band assessment. One official report plus the register = medium.
Signals
Raw per-source observations behind this record (2):
sig-20260721-cadw-gm031,
sig-20260722-report-gm031
Record file · dataset licensed CC BY 4.0 — see provenance.