Volunteers start castle clean-up

Volunteers are clearing the grounds around the castle

A major clean-up has begun to "breathe life back into the overgrown ruins" of Llantrisant Castle.

A team of volunteers have begun clearing vegetation from the site, which dates back to 1246.

Cadw, the Welsh body for Ancient Monuments, has helped to fund the scheme with Rhondda Cynon Taf council.

Archaeologist Matt Ritchie said the aim was to pave the way for a full dig. The castle is believed to have been built by the Lord of Glamorgan.

"Cadw and BCTV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) are spending the next three weeks clearing vegetation off it so that a conservation architect can better see the remains so as to undertake a full conservation report," he said.

Mr Ritchie added that the castle would originally have had two large round towers and a wall and would have been similar in size to Castell Coch in Tongwynlais.

"At Llantrisant all that remains now is a quarter of one tower standing to around 13m in height," he said.

The castle fell into disrepair around 700 years ago

"It is an evocative ruin standing in a woodland glade on a strategic position on a hill in Llantrisant."

"It is very, very inaccessible - it is fenced off, the public haven't been able to get in for a good long time.

"The council, who initiated the project, are aiming to have a lovely parkland with consolidated ruins, bringing the castle back in to be the central focus of Llantrisant."

The Lord of Glamorgan is thought to have built the castle at the time Richard de Clare on the site of an earlier timber fortification.

It was attacked and seriously damaged by Welsh rebels on several occasions, before being wrecked by English barons in 1321.

He said the most interesting archaeological finds would be likely to be from everyday people in the outer defences.

"Probably the most interesting area is within the outer ward to the north of the castle, where the area would have been used as a soldier's barracks, craft working and kitchens," he said.