Llansteffan Castle

button-theme-prehistoric-more Link to Welsh translation button_lang_french Here the Wales Coast Path goes around the headland topped by Llansteffan Castle. The castle is open to the public on most days of the year and is a short walk up the hill from the coast path.

laugharne_coygan_handaxes
JMW Turner, Llanstephan Castle by Moonlight, c.1795, Tate (D00689),
digital image © Tate released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

The watercolour picture of the castle in moonlight is by JMW Turner. It also shows men working at a kiln and unloading a sailing boat in the foreground. The photo below is from the 1890s.

The castle is one of few in Wales known to be on the same site as a prehistoric fort. A fort was built here c.600BC, probably for control of the crossing point of the river Tywi. The steep slope on the east side formed a natural defence. The other three sides were probably defended by banks and ditches.

The medieval castle obliterated much of the Iron Age earthworks but some have survived, west of the castle.

Work on the castle is thought to have started c.1112, only a few decades after the Norman conquest. Members of the powerful Camville family held the castle for over 200 years, except for several periods when Welsh rulers – including Lord Rhys and Llywelyn Fawr – captured it.

llansteffan_castleThe gatehouse, along with most of the other larger structures whose ruins you can see today, date from the 13th century, when the Camvilles reinforced the castle.

The Welsh took the castle, yet again, in the early 15th century during the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr. Later that century the castle belonged to the state, under Pembroke-born King Henry VII. Some of the surviving decorative features relate to the castle’s use as a home in the 16th century.

The castle is now looked after by Cadw.

About the place-name:

Llansteffan: church of Steffan, with llan ‘church’ and the personal name Steffan. The church may be dedicated to a native Welsh saint from Powys and a friend of Teilo, according to tradition, rather than the biblical martyr.

With thanks to Prof Dai Thorne, of the Welsh Place-Name Society, for place-name information

View Location Map

Visitor information – Cadw website

More information about Turner’s picture of the castle – Tate Gallery website

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