Welsh Journals

JUchaeckrgia Cambrensi* VOL. XCVIII. PART I. 1944. CRICCIETH CASTLE, CAERNARVONSHIRE. By B. H. ST. J. O'NEIL, F.S.A. A. HISTORY. THE cantref of Dunoding, named after Dunod (Latin Donatus), one of the sons of Cunedda, comprised two commotes, Ardudwy to the south, now in northern Merioneth, and Eifionydd, named after Dunod's son, Eifion, to the north and west. Between the two lay Y Traeth Mawr (the Great Sand), a great natural barrier, so that it is not surprising to learn of the divergence in history of the two commotes. Eifionydd, within which lies Criccieth, and which stretched from the Traeth on the east to the Afon Erch on the west, and was bounded on the south by the sea and on the north by the high mountains, according to the earliest records was ruled by a local dynasty, tracing its origin to Dunod. These rulers appear to have held their own until well on into the tenth century (c. A.D. 930), but the commote then fell under the domination of Gwynedd, its more powerful neighbour to the north. The residence of the local chieftain in these early times, whether independent or under the rule of Gwynedd, is unknown, but it is unlikely to have been far from the important route, which passed through the commote between Caernarvon and Ardudwy. This route undoubtedly crossed the Afon Dwyfawr at Dolbenmaen, and it is clear that by the twelfth century, when the Norman fashion of building earthen mounds (or mottes) for castles of wood was being copied by the Welsh, the residence or llys of the lord of the commote or at least one of his strongholds was at the mound still existing in that village. It is admirably situated to command the route at a river crossing just where high ground, suitable for ambuscade, approaches it on both sides. It is probable that this castle-mound remained in use until the foundation of Criccieth Castle. So far as is known, before the early thirteenth century the only buildings at or near the site of the present castle and town of Criccieth were the church and any concomitant buildings in its immediate vicinity. Save that there may have been a prehistoric camp on the castle rock, there is no evidence that any earlier fortification preceded the existing structure. The first reference to a castle at Criccieth occurs in 1239, when it is recorded that Dafydd, son of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, "seized his brother, Gruffydd, breaking the compact with him,