Aberystwyth Castle

Marcher lord Gilbert Fitz Richard built an earlier motte and bailey castle a mile south of the current site in c. 1110. In 1116, it was unsuccessfully besieged by Gruffydd ap Rhys, Prince of Deheubarth. He was eventually successful in 1136, capturing it and burning it to the ground with the help of Owain Gwynedd and his brother, Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd, the sons of Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of Gwynedd. Their sister, Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd, Gruffydd ap Rhys's wife, had been killed in battle by Gruffudd ab Llywelyn, who commanded for the Norman, Maurice de Londres.

The adjoining walled town took its name from the older and important nearby village of Llanbadarn Fawr, and was thus called Llanbadarn Gaerog (English: Fortified Llanbadarn). However, by the time of the Black Prince in 1343, the castle was in a bad state of disrepair; the main gateway and drawbridges, the king's hall and long chamber, the kitchen range, and the outer bailey were falling. In 1404, Owain Glyndŵr captured and took possession of the castle during a national uprising against English occupation.