Mold Castle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mold Castle Bailey Hill | |
|---|---|
_yr_Wyddgrug_-_Bailey_Hill_-_Mold_Castle,_yr_Wyddgrug_(Mold),_Cymru_18.jpg) Aerial view of the site | |
| Type | Motte-and-bailey castle[1] |
| Location | Mold, Flintshire, Wales[1] |
| Nearest city | Wrexham |
| Coordinates | 53°10′13″N 3°08′44″W / 53.17038°N 3.14544°W |
  Mold Castle Location in Flintshire | |
| Official name | The Bailey Hill, Mold[1] |
| Reference no. | FL014[1] |
,_Mold_-_2321514_7855565b.jpg)
Mold Castle (Welsh: Castell yr Wyddgrug), also known as Bailey Hill in the town of Mold, Flintshire, north-east Wales, is a motte-and-bailey castle erected around 1072, probably by the Norman Robert de Montalt under instructions from Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester. Little remains except the mound on which the motte was built. It stands close to the 15th-century parish church, St Mary's Church near the centre of the town.[2]
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.[3]
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.[4] 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.[2]
