Castell Aber Ia (Deudraeth)

On the grounds of Portmeirion, Gwynedd, North Wales

Above: Modern steps leading to the site of the castle. Below: Possible site of the keep marked by an ornamental wall.

Gerald of Wales while on his famous journey through Wales in 1188, made mention of two new stone castles built by the native Welsh princes. He thought it unusual because up to that time native rulers had used mostly earth and timber strongholds. Certainly what Gerald saw were among the very earliest stone castles in Gwynedd. Deudraeth, or "two sands," was probably on the site of Castell Aber Ia, near Portmerion, whose present stone tower is a 20th-century folly.

A Mirror of Medieval Wales, Gerald of Wales and his Journey of 1188, by Charles Kightly, Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments, 2 Fitzalan Road, Cardiff CF2 1UY, 1988.

Coflein

The scant remains of Castell Aber Ia stand at the south western tip of a short rocky ridge in woodland known as Y Gwyllt to the west of Portmeirion village. All that remains of this small castle is the relatively level rock platform some 20m east-west by 26m north-south, upon which a stone tower once stood. This castle has often been associated with the `Castle of Deudraeth' mentioned by Gerald of Wales as newly built in 1188; there is however some debate over this association. It does however seem likely that Aber Ia was one of a small cluster of early stone-built castles constructed in Gwynedd at the end of the twelfth century. The castle was demolished in the mid-nineteenth century by a tenant of the Aber Ia estate. Prior to this it served as a scenic viewpoint with the tower described in the nineteenth century as being semi-circular in shape and some 4m in diameter.

Additional drawings and photographs of Castell Aber Ia

Below: conjectural plan and drawing of how the castle may have once appeared

Below: view across the Dwyryd from the Gazebo showing the location of the castle relative to the village

Below: view of the earthen ramp leading to the bridge platform

Below: view of the remains of some of the original walling of the castle enclosure

Below: the overgrown projecting cliff where the keep may have been sited

Below: close up view of a fragment of the enclosure wall

Below: part of the curved curtain wall or tower base above the castle ditch

Below: ruins of the modern ornamental walls built by Clough Williams-Ellis

Below: the modern gazebo stands on a masonry platform above the village

Below: Portmeirion tower built using Deudraeth Castle stone

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