Castell Bryn Gwyn is located in a field close to the A4080 road between the villages of Dwyran and Brynsiencyn, Anglesey, North Wales. The site has a long and varied history being occupied since the late 3rd millennium BC, as evidenced by flints and pottery finds from beneath the defensive bank. Indeed a farmhouse occupies part of the site to this day.

Although sometimes described as Castell Bryn Gwyn Hillfort, it is definitely not a hillfort, being on level ground at the bottom of a hill. But excavations have shown that the site is similar in form to hillfort defences with a clay and gravel bank 10m wide and 2m high surrounding a level area 17m in diameter. It was originally surrounded by a deep ditch that is now no longer visible. Cadw, the Welsh Heritage organisation, believes the site was also occupied during both the Iron Age and the Roman Period, and others have suggested it might be the site of the castle built by King Olaf, grandfather of Gruffudd ap Cynan.

There is little to see at the site and indeed I will have to return to take a picture when the sun casts a shadow in order to give a better representation of the bank!

I would suggest visiting the site in conjunction with the other "Brynsiencyn" sites including the Bryn Gwyn Stones, Caer Leb and the Bodowyr Neolithic Burial Chamber.

Cadw Website >