Mold Castle

Mold Castle, on Bailey Hill in the town of Mold, Flintshire, Northeast Wales.

Mold Castle was built upon an existing earthwork. A motte and bailey fortress was erected c. 1072 – possibly by Robert de Montalt, a descendant of Eustace De Monte Alto, a Norman warrior in the service of Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester. This family originated in Monthault, Ille-et-Vilaine, in the Duchy of Brittany, not then part of France, but it has been proposed that they took their name from ‘mont haut’, meaning ‘high hill’, and associated it with this earthwork.

This name may have become corrupted, down the years, until it became ‘Mold’. So Bailey Hill may have given the town its name. In 1146 it was captured by Owain Gwynedd. It switched hands on several occasions before a long period under Welsh control during the reign of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth. It remained a defensive structure up until the 13th century. During the English Civil War, Mold was captured by the Parliamentarians, recovered by the Royalists, and fell again to Cromwell’s forces.

More posts..

York Castle

In the 11th century, York was a Viking capital in the 10th century and continued as an important northern city in the 11th century. In 1068, on William the Conqueror’s first northern expedition after the Norman Conquest, he built a number of castles across the

Kit’s Coty

Kit’s Coty is a chambered long barrow near the village of Aylesford in the southeastern English county of Kent. Constructed circa 4000 BCE, during the Early Neolithic period of British prehistory. The name “Kits Coty” allegedly means “Tomb in the Forest” according to signs

Bothwell Castle

Bothwell Castle is a large medieval castle, sited on a high, steep bank, above a bend in the River Clyde in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located between Bothwell and Uddingston, about 10 miles south-east of Glasgow. Construction of the castle was begun in the

Lincoln Castle

Lincoln Castle is a major Norman castle constructed in Lincoln, England, during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is one of only two such

error: