Wales · 12th century
Carmarthen Castle (Welsh: Castell Caerfyrddin) is a ruined castle in Carmarthen, West Wales, UK. First built by Walter, Sheriff of Gloucester in the early 1100s, the castle was captured and destroyed on several occasions before being rebuilt in stone during the 1190s. The castle was captured by Owain Glyndŵr in 1405. Henry VII's father died at Carmarthen Castle in 1456. During the Wars of the Roses the castle fell to William Herbert and, during the Civil War, was captured by Parliamentary forces. It was ‘slighted’ (dismantled) by order of Oliver Cromwell in the mid 1600s.
It has been used as the site of Carmarthen's jail until the 1920s. The remains of the castle were given a Grade I heritage listing in 1954 and is currently a tourist attraction and site of the town's Tourist Information Centre.
Text adapted from “Carmarthen Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Carmarthen Castle ranks #2,253 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #33 of the 107 mapped in Wales. Founded 1105, it is older than 85% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 756 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,841 times in the last 60 days, more than 67% of the atlas. 6 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Swansea, 36 km away. See how Wales compares in the castle statistics.
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