Circular walk around the limestone crag with the Prince's Castle - Carreg Cennen (Brecon Beacons National Park)

Right on the western tip of the Brecon Beacons National Park is the limestone crag on which Carreg Cennen (Cennen Rock) Castle stands. The 5-mile walk retains the crag with its 300ft vertical cliff as an impressive spectacle throughout the walk. The steep slopes and cliff made the site easy to defend.

There is evidence that the site may have been occupied in the Iron Age and later by the Romans. The original castle was built by one of the Welsh Princes in the late 12^th Century. Rhys ap Gruffydd (d. 11 97), Welsh Prince of Deheubarth, built a stronghold and admin centre for Is-Cennen. Over the next century the castle was fought over and changed hands a number of times. In 1277, King Edwards I of England seized the castle, which was demolished and replaced by the more impressive fortress, the ruins of which we see today. It was mainly undertaken by John Gifford, an English Lord who fought with Edward I to defeat the Welsh. In 1362, it was inherited by John of Gaunt who eventually passed it onto his heir, the future Henry IV. In 1403 the castle fell briefly after a long siege to the Welsh army of Owain Glyndŵr. During the Wars of the Roses, it became a Lancastrian stronghold but surrended in 1462. In the summer of the same year, 500 men were paid £28 5s 6d to destroy the castle. Apparently it was to prevent it becoming the base for local robbers though it was said to have been the Yorkists who paid this and they may have had other motives.

The site has the additional protection of being a local nature reserve, SSSI and a Geopark. The cliff provides a resting place for birds and safe havens for rare plants. Sessile Oak and Ash grow on the slopes. The fault which created the crag overlooking Cennen Valley divided the landscape into sandstone and limestone which provides habitats for different types of plants. Limestone supports Ash trees whereas Oak prefers sandstone.

Part of the walk, at almost 1000ft above sea level, was along the western flank of the Black Mountain range. Nearby were unusual long, low, glass-covered mounds, known as Beddau'r Derwyddan or Druid's Graves. These were actually man-made rabbit warrens. The soil is too poor to form natural burrows but as rabbit used to firm an important part of the country-person's diet, these mounds were constructed to allow the rabbits to live and breed in them; a non-intensive form of rabbit farming.

One other unusual feature was the natural cave, incorporated into the castle defences, reached by a narrow passage carved out of the rock. In the days before COVID19, it was likely that people could enter the passages, lit by narrow openings in the outer wall and see the cave.

Entering the castle was through a gap in the outer wall on the eastern side, in between what would have been small drum towers. In the outer ward was the lime kiln and quarry. Entry to the castle was up ramps, where bridges would have been over deep pits. The eastern wall also had the latrine outlet.

We also had a stop in Cilmeri where Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was killed in December 1281. A memorial was constructed in 1956 as a focal point for an annual day of remembrance on his death day. Nearby is the well where his apparently severed head was washed to take to Edward I. Lovely!