Ewloe Castle

Ewloe Castle is surrounded on all sides by a heavily wooded area at Wepre Park

Located at the top of heavily wooded Wepre Park, the castle ruins still allow a safe climb to the top of one of the towers.

The castle is thought to have been built by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd as a Welsh fortification in the mid 13th century but was already in ruins by the end of that century.

Ewloe Castle: Built in the 1200s

The area had already written itself into the history books a century earlier as the Battle of Ewloe in 1157 saw 200 Welshmen led by Owain Gwynedd, who was then king of north Wales, nearly kill English monarch Henry II.

The fight in Ewloe wood was close to where the ruins of Ewloe Castle stand.

Today, experts suggest although castle the was occupied by English king Edward I, nearby Flint and Rhuddlan castles were preferred as they could be restocked by sea and that's why the castle went into decline.

Legends say the castle is haunted by the ghost of 'marching men' and, in the surrounding 160 acre woodland between Connah's Quay and Ewloe, Nora the Nun is said to walk.

In December 2009, the castle and land fetched £838,000 at auction.