Rhayader Castles

The small town of Rhayader (or Rhaeadr) is on the river Wye in mid-Wales, on the A44 about 40 miles west of Leominster and 30 miles east of Aberystwyth. Historically, the west bank of the river was in Buellt while the west bank was in Gwerthrynion. There are two castle sites, one on each side of the river and the historical records do not make it clear which castle is being referred to. Today the name Rhayader castle refers to the site on the east side. The remains consist of a roughly rectangular platform about 50m by 40m. At the north-west and south sides it slopes steeply to the river. Large ditches have been cut to defend the castle in other directions. This site is easily accessible – SN968680. The site on the west side is referred to as Tolmen Llansantffraid  or Tower Hill. It is a raised mound 12-15m in diameter and about 3.7m high, Nowadays it is crowded on all sides by modern housing, but in the 18th century it was described as ‘deeply ditched and moated around’. SN967677.

In 1168 the Lord Rhys (d1197), ruler of Deheubarth, attacked Builth and destroyed its castle, adding the cantref of Buellt to his possessions. In 1177 he built a castle at Rhayader, on the very edge of his territory, as a defence against the rulers of nearby Maelienydd. It seems likely that he built this first castle on the west bank, at Tower Hill, in his own territory. There was a castle at Rhayader, on and off, for a century, but it suffered more than its fair share of trouble, being subject to successive attacks by several groups of Welsh as well as by the Mortimers of Wigmore. Destroyed by Welsh towards the end of the 12th century it was rebuilt by Rhys in 1194, but again destroyed. In 1200 Roger Mortimer (d1214) conquered Maelienydd and rebuilt the castle, but the Welsh destroyed it again within two years. It must have been rebuilt because, in 1231, Llywelyn ab Iorwerth destroyed it, and it was never subsequently rebuilt. In 1240 Ralph Mortimer (d1246) recovered possession of the area and, though he rebuilt the fortress at Cefnllys, there is no evidence of any activity at Rhayader.