Castell Carreg Cennen
Standing on top of 200 feet high cliff Castell Carreg Cennen dominates
the mountains and valleys of Deheubarth and controls the passage to the
sea at Swansea. The site was first used by prehistoric man and
Roman coins have been found in the clearances of the castle. The
name is first mentioned before 1143 and there seems little
doubt that a castle of some description stood here from that date
onwards. Unmentioned in the brutal wars that scarred Deheubarth
in the twelfth century the castle first finds prominence in the Welsh
Chronicles for 1246 where it was wrongly reported that the castle had
been betrayed to the French. In fact royal forces were holding
the castle for the legitimate heir and his widowed mother. In
1248 that heir came of age and inherited the castle. In 1276 the
castle surrendered without a siege and then was burned and repeatedly
rebuilt in the ensuing wars changing hands twice in 1282 and once in
1287.
Copyright©2010
Paul Martin Remfry
