Mold Castle

Adrian Pettifer

Bailey Hill, opposite the 15th-century parish church at Mold is a good example of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle. The conical motte stands at one end of an oblong bailey, with a small outwork in front. A bowling green now occupies the bailey. Robert de Montalt may have raised the castle around 1140, but Owain Gwynedd captured it in 1147. Minor royal expenditure is recorded from 1167, after Henry II recovered Mold. Stone walls found in the bailey perhaps belonged to this hall, but there is no later record of the castle.

Welsh Castles
Boydell & Brewer Ltd., 2000
ISBN: 0 85115 778 5

Adrian Pettifer has a degree in Ancient and Medieval History from the University of Birmingham, and has long been a keen visitor of historic monuments, concentrating primarily on castles, abbeys, churches and ancient sites. He is the author of English Castles (1995) and Welsh Castles (2000), published by Boydell and Brewer, gazetteers intended to provide a concise history and description of every masonry castle and the more substantial earthworks. He can be reached via e-mail at: AdrianPettifer@msn.com.

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