Llansteffan Castle
Llansteffan Castle in Carmarthenshire stands in a wonderfully picturesque location, crowning the top of a well-defined headland looking out over the broad sand-flats of the Tywi estuary. A privately owned Castle commanding some of the most spectacular views in Wales.
This strong hilltop position was first fortified in the prehistoric Iron Age and by the sixth century BC a double bank and ditch had been thrown across the neck of the headland to create a defensive promontory fort. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the Norman invaders also recognised the defensive potential of the site. Llansteffan castle is thought to have been raised by Norman invaders soon after 1100. The castle created at this time, within the prehistoric defences, was of a form known as a ‘ringwork’. It is not until 1146 that we have the first definite reference to Llansteffan. In that year, the Welsh Brut y Tywysogyon (Chronicle of the Princes) records that the castle was taken by Maredudd ap Gruffudd and his brothers, Cadell and Rhys, young princes of the royal house of Deheubarth (south-west Wales). By 1158, however, the district had been reoccupied by the Normans and the castle was generally in English hands thereafter.
From the end of the twelfth century, Llansteffan Castle was held by William de Camville and his descendants. During the period that followed the castle had something of a chequered history: it was captured a number of times by the Welsh, and retaken by the English. The male line of the Camvilles ended with the death of William III in 1338, and Llansteffan passed through marriage to the Penres family from Gower. The castle was to see a further brief spell of action during the revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr, when it was in Welsh hands for a period.