Prestatyn Castle

An earth mound, visible in fields to the south of the Prestatyn railway station, near Nant Hall, marks the site of an early wooden motte and bailey castle. Prestatyn Castle occupies a low-lying position, but still commands a view across much of the flat coastal plain and guarded the coast road between Rhuddlan and Chester. It consists of the remains of a motte c.20m in diameter with surrounding ditch, and a bailey which, unusually, encloses the whole of the motte. Excavation in about 1913 revealed a substantial stone wall 1.2m thick surrounding the bailey, inside its ditch, but no trace of a structure on the motte. A slightly raised causeway approaches from the south (away from the railway), but no detail is now visible where it meets the bailey; there is no obvious entrance gap in the motte ditch. A rubbing stone for animals on top of the motte is presumably modern.

King Henry II of England granted Prestatyn to Robert de Robert Banastre in 1165. The castle was destroyed by Owain Gwynedd in 1167. It does not appear to have been rebuilt, and the Banastre family fled to Lancashire where Robert held land under Henry de Lacy.