Castles / GB / Wales
Swansea Castle
Castell Abertawe
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 curtain wall, cross arrowslits, a turret with an arrowslit and a full-height garderobe tower alongside a residential south block containing a first-floor hall and solar — combined active defence and lordly residence, held by the de Braose lords. |
| 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 late-13th to early-14th-century castle of the medieval era held by the de Braose lords; later reuse as an 18th-century debtors' prison is adaptation of the real castle, not a purpose-built sham or revival. |
| 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 | Castle, Swansea, 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 —
GM012· Scheduled Monument — SiteType: Castle · entry
Location
Approximate. © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Notes
Assessed from Cadw's full designation report (GM012), the visible "New Castle". fortified_residence: yes — arrowslits, garderobe tower and curtain wall are active defence, integrated with a residential hall/solar block held by lords. revival_folly: no — a medieval castle, later adapted (debtors' prison), not a folly. palatial_seat OMITTED (borderline, deliberately not asserted): the report notes the New Castle was built when "Edward I's pacification of Wales had deprived it of any military importance" and describes a "picturesque arcaded parapet" on the residential block — suggestive of decorative fortification — but the same block retains functional arrowslits and a garderobe tower, and the towers were sold off for economic rather than amenity reasons, so the report does not clearly evidence an unfortified palatial phase; left unassessed rather than inflated. popular_castle OMITTED: no visitor/usage evidence in the report. Confidence medium: single official report plus register.
Sources
- Scheduled Monument Full Report — Swansea Castle — Cadw, 2026-07-22
Cadw's full scheduled-monument report (GM012); read in full — records the curtain wall, arrowslits, garderobe tower, residential south block with hall and solar, and the de Braose tenure.
Signals
Raw per-source observations behind this record (2):
sig-20260721-cadw-gm012,
sig-20260722-report-gm012
Record file · dataset licensed CC BY 4.0 — see provenance.