• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• Home
• Where to Stay
• Things To Do
• Places To Eat
• Browse Shops
• News
• Your Basket (0 items)

There has been a fortified encampment on the hill above Llangollen for at least 3,000 years. The current ruins were constructed in the 13th century by Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor I who also founded the nearby Valle Crucis Abbey.

Once completed it was held by the Princes of Powys for only twenty years before surrendering to Henry de Lacy, the Earl of Lincoln, in 1277 on behalf of the English crown.

De Lacy burnt the castle down and it was never rebuilt - the fact there are still ruins visible is a testament to the strength of the original structure.

Owain Glyndwr did attempt to re-capture the site in 1402 but was ultimately unsuccessful.

One of the most spectacular locations for a castle in Britain, the very name of Dinas Bran has guaranteed an air of mystery surrounds the place.

Bran is the reputed builder of the first castle structure in the old Iron Age fort, as well as being one of the protectors of the Holy Grail. The name Bran means crow or raven in Welsh, the same meaning as Corbenic, the castle of the Grail of Arthurian legend, which poses the tantalising question, was Bran the basis for the Fisher King legend?


Another story of Bran states he was beheaded, with his head taken away and buried under what is now Tower Hill in London. This is why the raven is such an important bird to the Tower of London today.

True or false, all myths and legends have a basis in fact and a walk up to the evocative ruins of Dinas Bran Castle is one of life's necessities!