Aberlleiniog Castles

Aberlleiniog castle consists of a large mound thought to have been the castle motte.  On top of this is a masonry structure, probably built as a folly, but possibly encasing an earlier Civil War fort recorded in the 1640s.  At the base of the mound is a ditched earthwork bailey.

The castle at Aberlleiniog is recorded as being attacked and burned by Gruffydd ap Cynan (d.1137) in 1094 when it was held for Earl Hugh of Chester (d.1101).

On the beach where the Afon Lleiniog flows into the sea is another much smaller mound which appears to have once been a motte and bailey castle.  This commands the landing beach at the mouth of the Menai Strait and what could have been an old, but now silted up harbour in the river.  One, or maybe both of these sites belonged to Earl Hugh and both have no further recorded medieval history after 1094.
 

Copyright©2016 Paul Martin Remfry