Twtil, Castle Motte

Twtil, Castle Motte - Cadw Castle in Denbighshire | Trust Quest

About

Twtil, Castle Motte, Mwnt y Castell Twtil, better known as Twthill, is the massive earthen mound of Rhuddlan's first castle, built in 1073 by Robert of Rhuddlan, William the Conqueror's henchman, on a sandy spur above the River Clwyd just seven years after Hastings. The motte, some 75 metres across and up to 12 metres high with a bailey on its north side, would have carried timber defences; mortar found on it suggests later stonework, and in the drought of 2018 aerial photographs revealed the parchmarks of a round stone tower on its summit. The castle passed between Welsh and English hands several times through the troubled 11th and 12th centuries, with repairs recorded in 1241, until Edward I replaced it with Castell Rhuddlan a short distance away in 1277. Visitors pair it with the castle, walking the signed footpath from Lon Hylas and climbing the short steep mound for a magnificent view over the Vale of Clwyd to the castle; the riverside below is boggy.

Open in daylightFrom Cadw's published times

Open any reasonable time in daylight

Opening times may change at short notice.

Open all year during reasonable daylight hours; no admission charge and no castle ticket needed. Parking at the castle is available only in castle hours. Cadw may close monuments at short notice in extreme weather.

Terrain level 3, moderate: a field path that can be muddy and a short steep climb up the mound; grazing animals may be on neighbouring farmland and the riverside is boggy. No toilets at the motte. Drones are not permitted.

Photo: The grassy Norman motte of Twthill rising above the Clwyd valley at Rhuddlan, with a metal fence and ragwort in the foreground. Llywelyn2000, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Twthill,_Rhuddlan_-_castell_mwnt_a_beili;_Sir_Ddinbych_-_Rhuddlan_Nature_Reserve._Wales_01.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.

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Walking routes1 route

Rhuddlan Town Trail (Denbighshire County Council)

3.2 km2hreasy

Dog access not confirmed

2 miles (3.2 km) excluding detours, about 2 hours, easy with a path to Twthill that can be muddy, from Parliament Street car park (LL18 5AL); stop 7 Twthill Mound, reached by the first right off Hylas Lane along the signed footpath beside the castle, with a brief climb for the view to Bodelwyddan's Marble Church; stop 8 the friary remains at Abbey Farm seen from the lane. Free; published by Denbighshire County Council's tourism team, 2026.

Twtil, Castle Motte

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