Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Carnedd Wen

30.04.25  Castell Dolforwyn (SO 151 950) 

Castell Dolforwyn (SO 151 950)

With the weather set fine, my cousin Lynn, wanted to visit Castell Dolforwyn.  We’d spoken about the castle on a number of occasions over recent years, but up until now had not fixed a date to visit.  It was going to be a family outing as we had mentioned this to another cousin; Thelma, and she also wanted to visit.

It proved an extremely warm day and especially so during the afternoon.  We set off walking at 2.00pm from the small car park directly east of the summit.  It’s only a short walk from here to the remains of the castle, but today with the heat of the afternoon it was going to be a slow plod to the top. 

Information board giving detail of the castle's construction

Llywelyn ap Gruffydd built the castle in 1273 on the Welsh side of the Afon Hafren (River Severn), with Montgomery castle a few miles away on the English side of the river, with this being part of the lordships associated with the English crown.

Its occupation by Llywelyn was short lived, as defiance toward the English crown resulted in a siege, with its surrender in 1277.  Afterward it was occupied and reinforced by Marcher Lord Roger Mortimer, before falling in to disrepair and abandonment in the 14^th century.  Today it stands on a quiet Welsh hill top looking out toward border country. 

Information board giving detail of the later renervation

On my previous visit I had Trimbled the summit, therefore today was purely set aside for an afternoon with my cousins, with good conversation and lots of laughs.  A steep track leads from the car park toward a gate and an earthen track beyond, thankfully the majority of which was in shade.  The dappled light and increasing warmth gave a Mediterranean feel to the whole walk. 

The path leading to the old entrance gate

Reaching the outer perimeter of the castle a grassed bank leads through what was once the gateway entrance, to the remaining walls and enclosed rooms within.  Today we had the castle to ourselves for the majority of our visit, with the only other visitors being a mother and her two young children, who were on holiday from Belgium exploring Wales for the week in a large camper van.  They had visited the Gower, Pembrokeshire, Anglesey, Yr Wyddfa and were heading down to Brecon before flying home from Bristol tomorrow morning.  They had certainly picked a glorious week to visit. 

Thelma beside the wall

Having roamed the interior of the castle we did a loop of the exterior walls before heading back inside the castle remains, where we found a suitable place to sit and relax in shade away from what was proving a quite ferocious sun.  We remained here for about 20 minutes, cooling down and chatting. 

Lynn admiring the view

All that remained was a steady walk back down our inward route to the awaiting car, where I changed from walking boots to sandals before driving the short distance back to Welshpool. 

 

Survey Result:

 

Castell Dolforwyn (significant name change)  

Summit Height:  228.5m (converted to OSGM15, previous Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey) (significant height revision)

Summit Grid Reference:  SO 15189 95016 (previous Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey)

Bwlch Height:  188.1m (LIDAR)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SO 14988 95278 (LIDAR)

Drop:  40.4m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

Dominance:  17.68% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR bwlch)

                                       

 

For details on the summit survey of Castell Dolforwyn

For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet