Castles / GB / Wales
Cardigan 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 | Cadw's report describes a keep on the north curtain wall (1246-52), three mural towers to the SE, E and N, an oval outer ward, and a 7m-wide defensive ditch with a counterscarp bank — active defence. Built by the Norman lord Gilbert de Clare c.1110, held by Lord Rhys and the Marshals: a fortified residence of a lord. |
| 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 genuine 12th-century Norman castle of the defensive era, with keep, towers and curtain wall built for defence and later damaged in the Civil War siege of 1644 — not a post-defensive-era sham or castellated ornament. |
| 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 | Cardigan, Ceredigion, 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 —
CD123· Scheduled Monument — SiteType: Castle · entry
Location
Approximate. © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Notes
Assessed from Cadw's full designation report (CD123). fortified_residence: yes — active defensive fabric (keep, three towers, curtain wall, ditch and counterscarp) plus identified lords. revival_folly: no — a defensive-era medieval castle. palatial_seat OMITTED: the report shows no unfortified amenity phase (the castle decayed rather than being rebuilt as a country seat). popular_castle OMITTED: the report notes the first Eisteddfod (1176) but gives no evidence of a modern visitor operation or general public standing, and rule 2 forbids inflating this band on a register name alone. Confidence medium: one official report plus the register, single source.
Sources
- Scheduled Monument Full Report — Cardigan Castle — Cadw, 2026-07-22
Cadw's full scheduled-monument report (CD123); read in full — records the keep, three towers, curtain wall, defensive ditch and construction by the Norman lord Gilbert de Clare.
Signals
Raw per-source observations behind this record (2):
sig-20260721-cadw-cd123,
sig-20260722-report-cd123
Record file · dataset licensed CC BY 4.0 — see provenance.