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Gwynedd, North Wales
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.
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