A Walk around Dinefwr Castle

(Click on photos to enlarge).

Newton House, Dinefwr Park:



Yesterday my eldest daughter had a yen to go "Castling", which isn't too difficult to do in our neck of the woods, as there are plenty of them. We drove up the Towy Valley to Dinefwr Castle. It is the most beautiful parkland to walk across, and this time we chose to park near Newton House and approach the castle that way, past the deer park. Of course, I had my camera with me and took about 40 photos.

This part of Wales was the Kingdom of Deheubarth in Medieval times and the position of Dinefwr, on its rocky promontary high above the watery wastes of the Towy Valley, was a stronghold for the Princes of Deheubarth. The castle, in its earliest form, is first mentioned around the 12th century. It is linked with the Lord Rhys - Rhys ap Gruffydd http://www.castlewales.com/lrdrhys.html
who was one of the greatest Welsh leaders of the period.

I love these old estate houses at the back of the Big House.

The lane going down past the deer park towards one of the estate houses.


The first view of the castle through the trees.


This summerhouse was built on top of the main keep in the late 17th century and this and the southern turret were roofed and had tiled floors, and used for entertaining guests visiting Newton House, across the park. Following a fire, when the roofs were destroyed, the castle fell into disuse.

A view across the Towy Valley, with the loops and oxbows of the river.

I overcame my vertigo to climb up each tower and take photos. This is looking across the front of the northern chamber block up down the Towy Valley towards Carmarthen.

There was a small doorway in the wall, with a sign on it that looked like a man with a headache - it transpired it meant there were holes in the wall to look through! Looking left, we could see a window in one of the remaining towers, and there is a locked door leading to this room from a stairway. Spooky.


My daughter larking about!




Yours truly - a rare photo as I'm usually behind the camera!




http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=Dinefwr+
Castle

If you wish to explore many more Welsh castles, then this is the site for you:

http://www.castlewales.com/home.html