Castell Dolwyddelan . . .
The castle is situated just off the A470 on the Blaenau side of Dolwyddelan and approx. 5 miles from Betws-y-Coed.
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You can view the outside of the castle at any time, but there is only access to the inside of the tower, April through September, on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays 10am-4pm. Free.
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There is no dedicated parking available.
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The pathway to the castle via the farmhouse is private property, so there is no access to the castle via this route. Please respect their privacy.
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Parking is in a layby on the A470 – 500m to the east of the castle, towards Dolwyddelan. From there, there is a public right-of-way to the castle via a gate leading from the road. This track passes a beautiful waterfall.
Llywelyn, the ruler of North Wales for 40 years (and the majority of the rest of Wales for a substantial part of that time,) built Dolwyddelan Castle in about 1210, as one of the Eryri strongholds of the princes of Gwynedd. It functioned as a guard post along a main route through north Wales.
The original wooden castle, believed to be the birthplace of Llywelyn Fawr (c1172-1240) stood on a rocky knoll on the valley floor, the wooded knoll can be clearly seen beyond the main road below the castle.
On January 18th 1283 castell Dolwyddelan was captured by the English forces of Edward I, during the final stages of his conquest of Wales. The English troops maintained a military presence here until 1290 as the long-term strategy of control in Cymru. This ended when the invading troupes began to rely more on military and administrative centres accessible by sea, and inland castles became obsolete.
The Courtyard was walled late in the thirteenth century, whilst the square tower was renovated to its present condition in Victorian times.
Watercolour 1741
Photo by John Thomas 1875