ABERAFAN CASTLE; ABERAVON CASTLE, SITE OF; BAILEY CASTLE
Site Details
- NPRN
- 307113
- Map Reference
- SS79SE
- Grid Reference
- SS76229012
- Unitary (Local) Authority
- Neath, Port Talbot
- Old County
- Glamorgan
- Community
- Aberavon
- Type of Site
- CASTLE
- Broad Class
- Defence
- Period
- Medieval
Site Description
Aberfan Castle is a rectangular moated enclosure, 56m north-north-east by 46m south-south-west with a moat between 13 and 14m wide. It is depicted on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey County series (Glamorgan. XXV.13 1876) and has been identified as a castle recorded as destroyed in 1153, although a later origin is possible. A centrally placed flat-topped rectangular mound, 8.0m north-north-east by 9m south-south-west, has been identified as a cockpit although it is also possible to connect this with ruins noted in 1813. The site was built over between 1876 and 1897.
Source: RCAHMW 1991 Glamorgan III.1a 'the Earlier Castles', VE1 154-6
J.Wiles, RCAHMW, 6 October 2004
