Llanmaes Castle (Malefant Castle)

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The monument comprises the remains of a medieval fortified manor house or castle of the De Malefant family. It is located on a gentle SW-facing slope, at 50m OD, overlooking Llanmaes Brook. It consists of a ruined rectangular masonry tower, which measures 14.4m NE-SW x 8.4m externally. The walls, built of lime-mortared Lias limestone rubble, are 1.5m thick. The most prominent surviving section, which stands to a height of 8.5m, includes the west angle, formed of dressed Sutton Stone and Lias limestone quoins, and adjacent section of the south-west wall. Adjacent to the west angle the northwest wall stands to a height of c. 8.5m for c. 2.5m. The remainder of the NW wall has been lost and replaced by a later boundary wall. The later wall does not follow the exact line of the medieval wall, but turns ENE across the predicted line of the tower wall. A 3m length of the footings of the medieval wall, which is not overlain by the later wall, is evident in the adjacent lawn. The south-west wall stands to a height of c. 8.5m for c. 4m from the west angle and is pierced by putlog holes. Much of the southern portion of the SW elevation has been lost, although the inner face of a drawbar socket described in the RCAHMW Inventory indicates the location of a doorway adjacent to the now lost southern angle.

The monument is of national importance as a documented defended manorial residence of the Malefant family which occupied the second rank of Glamorgan medieval nobility. The castle forms an important high status element within the wider medieval landscape and early settlement of Llanmaes and shares group value with a variety of other defended houses and minor castles in the Vale of Glamorgan. The structure itself may be expected to contain archaeological information in regard to chronology, building techniques and functional detail. It has the potential to enhance our knowledge of medieval domestic and defensive architecture.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and an area around it within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is rectangular in shape on plan and measures 14.4m from NE to SW by 8.4m transversely.