A motte-and-bailey fortress raised between 1080 and 1099 by Hugh d'Avranches, Norman Earl of Chester, on a wooded hilltop above the mouth of the Lleiniog stream. It pre-dates Edward I's Beaumaris by more than two centuries and is one of the earliest castles in north Wales.
The original timber tower was replaced by a small stone keep in the seventeenth century, which itself fell into ruin. A volunteer-led restoration in the 2000s consolidated the walls and cleared the site, and the castle is now reached by a short woodland walk from a small car park near Llangoed, two miles north of Beaumaris. Free, unstaffed, and rarely busy — a quiet contrast to its famous neighbour.