Castles / GB / Wales
Laugharne Castle
Castell Talacharn
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 | Strong masonry castle of the de Brian lords — a stone curtain wall with two round towers, the NW tower acting as a keep, and a late-13th-century forward-projecting gatehouse with a defended entrance passage and postern; a fortified private lordly residence. |
| 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 | yes | In 1575 Sir John Perrot converted it into a comfortable Tudor mansion — the north curtain between the two round towers was demolished for a residential accommodation block, the wall heightened with mock battlements, and ranges built round a cobbled courtyard with a fountain and gardens; defensive fabric removed for amenity. |
| Revival and folly | no | A genuine 12th–14th-century defensive castle later slighted and left a romantic ruin, not a structure built as a sham; the mock battlements are a Tudor cosmetic addition and the original intent was defensive. |
| 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 | Laugharne Township, Carmarthenshire, 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 —
CM003· Scheduled Monument — SiteType: Castle · entry
Location
Approximate. © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Notes
Bands assessed from Cadw's full scheduled-monument report (CM003). fortified_residence and palatial_seat both yes for different phases — a de Brian defensive castle later converted by Sir John Perrot into a Tudor mansion; revival_folly no (romanticised, not sham). Other bands omitted as unassessed: the report does not evidence popular usage, an enclosure without a lord, or state-military tenure.
Sources
- Scheduled Monument Full Report — Laugharne Castle — Cadw, 2026-07-22
Cadw scheduled-monument full report (CM003); consulted in full for the band assessment.
Signals
Raw per-source observations behind this record (2):
sig-20260721-cadw-cm003,
sig-20260722-report-cm003
Record file · dataset licensed CC BY 4.0 — see provenance.