Montgomery Castle

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.

ParkingParking not known

The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.

Parking details

Cadw's car park holds about 15 cars with one dedicated accessible space about 100 m from the castle and two Type 2 (22 kW) electric charge points (charges apply). Cadw publishes no parking charge and no free statement, so the status is recorded as unknown; reviewers consistently describe it as free. Visitors say the gate is locked in the evening (6pm in summer) while the castle stays reachable on foot, that satnavs route oddly along the lanes above the town, and that the few spaces fill early; the alternative is to park in the town and walk up. Bike storage is available.

Driving pin: Montgomery Castle Car Park at the south end of the ridge (Cadw's on-site car park), 242 m from Cadw's marker on the inner ward; a short, flat walk over two wooden bridges leads to the castle. By road: on the hill above Montgomery town centre, 8 miles from Welshpool. By rail: Welshpool, 12.9 km. National Cycle Network route 81 passes 4.5 km away.

About

Montgomery Castle stands on a steep crag above the pretty Georgian town of Montgomery, with all-seeing views across the Welsh border into Shropshire. Henry III ordered it begun around 1223 in response to Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, Llywelyn the Great, replacing the wooden fort of Hen Domen nearby; his advisers had pointed out a site fit for an impregnable castle, and by 1234 the towers were roofed in lead. A stone inner ward with a well, deep rock-cut ditches crossed by drawbridges and a walled town followed, and the castle survived attacks by Llywelyn in 1228 and 1231 and by his son Dafydd in 1245. A grand house built in the middle ward in the 1620s is reduced to foundations, and Parliament demolished the castle in 1649, leaving the crumbling towers and low walls seen today. Reviewers single out the phenomenal views, the information boards and seats, and the short flat walk from the small car park over two wooden bridges. Dogs on short leads are welcome throughout the ground-level wards.

Check today’s timesPick a day for times and prices

Montgomery Castle is currently closed due to poor weather conditions. We are monitoring the situation and will update you when it is safe for you to visit. Thank you.

Until 31 Mar: Daily 10:00–16:00, last admission 15:30
From 1 Apr: Daily 10:00–18:00, last admission 17:30

Today, Saturday 24 October

Montgomery Castle10:00 – 16:00last admission 15:30

Free entry

Opening times may change at short notice.

1 April to 30 September 10am to 6pm; 1 October to 31 March 10am to 4pm; last admission 30 minutes before closing; closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January. Cadw may close monuments at short notice in extreme weather; check its social media before visiting.

Terrain level 2, easy: access to and within the castle is over several wooden bridges, with some low historic stonework to cross that is slippery when wet. The castle sits above deep ditches, so keep inside the outer walls; the lower ditch is reached only down steep grassed banks. No toilets, cafe or shop. Drones are not permitted.

Dogs: Dogs on short leads are welcome on the ground level of the castle, which is the whole visit; there are no open upper levels. The wards, bridges and ditches that make up the site are all at ground level and open to dogs on a short lead; no ticket is needed.

Photo: The ruined towers of Montgomery Castle's inner ward rising from the rocky crag, seen from the grassy ditch below. Philip Halling, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Montgomery_Castle_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1974092.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.