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<< Our Photo Pages >> Dinas Bran - Hillfort in Wales in Denbighshire

Submitted by Graham1950 on Thursday, 24 October 2019  Page Views: 25175

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Dinas Bran Alternative Name: Castell Dinas Brân
Country: Wales County: Denbighshire Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Llangollen
Map Ref: SJ2224043060  Landranger Map Number: 117
Latitude: 52.979222N  Longitude: 3.159568W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
3 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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seveaye visited on 11th May 2011 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 5 Access: 3

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DrewParsons h_fenton AngieLake TimPrevett nicoladidsbury have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3 Ambience: 4.25 Access: 2.75

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by Graham1950 : Taken last summer on a beautiful sunny day with views all around for miles. It's strategic position obvious. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Dramatically situated high on the hill that overlooks Llangollen, Dinas Bran must be one of the most romantic and magical places in Britain. In song and story it is the castle of the Holy Grail! Although the stone ruin of Castell Dinas Bran is medieval, it stands on the site of an ancient Iron-Age hill-fort, the ditch and earth banks that enclose the southern and eastern parts of the fortress date to the this period.

It was the home of the Princes of Powys until the 8th century, but the hilltop had strategic value long before they came here.

The word, "Dinas," possibly has its origins in the Iron Age and is found in the names of Iron Age hillforts throughout Wales. In the Dark Ages, Dinas Bran was associated with King Elisedd (see Eliseg's Pillar). There are much earlier stories though and the castle is named after Bran the Blessed, a deified hero from Welsh and Irish mythology. His name means "Raven" and his story also connects to the legend of the ravens on Tower Hill in London.

Dinas Bran is also known as Castle Corbenic in the legend of the Holy Grail. Corben is a French word for crow or raven and means Bran in Welsh. In Welsh myth, Bran went on a long journey from Harlech to Ireland to recover a magical vessel of plenty - a Cauldron of Rebirth which was the forerunner of the Grail. Like the Grail King, Bran was wounded by a spear and the land became a wasteland until he was healed. It is said that the wound was in the groin and would not heal leading to loss of potency. The link between the sexual vigour of the king and the fertility of the land is common to many cultures. Later, his head was cut off, but continued to speak. Following his instructions, Bran's head was taken to the hill that was to become the site of the Tower of London. It was buried and as long as it remained there it would guard the land. Strange that the present day ravens at the Tower are still said to perform that function.

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Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by h_fenton : A kite Aerial Photograph of Dinas Bran, the ruins of the medieval castle and the ramparts of the earlier Iron Age hillfort can be seen. 28 May 2010 @ 7.06pm (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by Postman : From on Ceigiau Eglwyseg (Vote or comment on this photo)

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by TimPrevett : Dinas Bran, approaching twilight emerges through the mountain fog across from the Eglwysegs. On full size, this picture looks fine, but resizing, it suddenly goes very grainy. Anyway, we were hoping for a day of good visibility - but far from it! Instead thick fog, and ice hugging anything that stays still on the mountain for more than a couple hours! Very atmospheric. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by AJSLLAN : Sunset from Castell Dinas Bran (Vote or comment on this photo)

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by DrewParsons : The ruins atop the hill. September 2019

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by Bladup : Castell Dinas Bran from the East, Clearly showing the iron age ramparts. (4 comments)

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by Postman : From near Eglwyseg's pillar, Valle Crucis Abbey sneaks in bottom right. (1 comment)

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by KenMiddleton : The famous "hillfort" that overlooks Llangollen.

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by VirtHist : Another 3D reconstruction of Dinas Bran Castle of the 13th Century based around a photo by my friend Robert Eames. Did quite a bit of Photoshop work to recreate the medieval landscape.

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by VirtHist : Another photo/CGI composite, done again using a wonderful photograph by Robert Eames.

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by Thorgrim : Castell Dinas Bran above Llangollen. Sometimes a black and white photograph can convey more atmosphere than a colour one. (4 comments)

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by AJSLLAN : Early morning inverted cloud at Castell Dinas Bran

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by Bladup : Castell Dinas Bran.

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by Postman : Closer (2 comments)

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by seveaye : I imagine this was the view that greeted the King on a fresh spring morning. Stunning! m/

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by TimPrevett : Looking west from the steepest drop off Dinas Bran. (1 comment)

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by VirtHist : This is a postcard version of a reconstruction of Dinas Bran we've created. These images are based on the photographs taken by my friend Robert Eames to which we added the castle and did Photoshop work to the landscape to give it that 13th Century look.

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by blingo : SJ 223430 near Llangollen showing the hill you have to climb to reach the top! Photo taken from top of hill at SJ 212445 (3 comments)

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by Thorgrim : Dramatically situated high on the hill that overlooks Llangollen, Dinas Bran must be one of the most romantic and magical places in Britain. In song and story it is the castle of the Holy Grail! Although the stone ruin of Castell Dinas Bran is medieval, it stands on the site of an ancient Iron-Age hill-fort. The ditch and earth banks that enclose the southern and eastern parts of the fortress... (2 comments)

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by w650marion : Even in March, it got quite busy up here at the castle, but we had the Iron Age rampart to ourselves, later.

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by Antonine : 2008 (1 comment)

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by Antonine

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by Antonine

Dinas Bran
Dinas Bran submitted by Graham1950 : The castle on the hilltop (1 comment)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 1.2km SW 218° Llangollen Museum Museum (SJ2145642103)
 1.3km NE 40° Eglwyseg Plantation Cairn 1* Cairn (SJ23074403)
 1.3km ENE 59° Bryngolen Cairn 1* Cairn (SJ23374372)
 1.4km N 4° Eglwyseg Plantation Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SJ22364446)
 1.5km SSW 196° Plas Newydd Gorsedd Stone circle* Modern Stone Circle etc (SJ2181041661)
 1.5km NE 45° Eglwyseg Plantation Cairn 2 Cairn (SJ23344414)
 1.6km ENE 63° Brygolen Cairn 2 Cairn (SJ23664376)
 1.7km ENE 64° Brygolen Cairn 3* Cairn (SJ23794378)
 1.8km N 10° Eglwyseg Stone* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (SJ22574478)
 1.9km N 358° Creigiau Eglwyseg 1* Round Barrow(s) (SJ22214495)
 2.0km NNE 15° Eglwyseg stone (2)* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SJ22774494)
 2.1km NNE 12° Eglwyseg Kerb Cairn A* Cairn (SJ22704509)
 2.1km NNE 12° Eglwyseg Kerb Cairn B* Cairn (SJ227451)
 2.1km NNE 15° Eglwyseg Cairn Circle* Cairn (SJ22824513)
 2.3km NNE 18° Eglwyseg Mountain* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SJ22994519)
 2.3km NNE 17° Creigiau Eglwyseg Boundary* Cairn (SJ22944522)
 2.5km NW 306° Pillar of Eliseg* Early Christian Sculptured Stone (SJ20264452)
 3.0km NNE 16° Eglwyseg mountain cairns (1,2 and 3)* Cairn (SJ23154597)
 3.3km S 176° Careg y Big (Llangollen)* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SJ224398)
 3.4km SW 231° Ffynnon Las Round Barrow(s) (SJ19574099)
 4.5km S 181° Llwynmawr* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SJ2211138530)
 4.8km WSW 237° Blaen Nant* Round Barrow(s) (SJ18144051)
 5.4km ESE 117° Cae Carreg Lwyd Standing Stone (Menhir) (SJ270405)
 5.5km WSW 239° Nant-Y-Bache Round Barrow(s) (SJ17474031)
 5.6km NNW 330° St Collen's Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SJ195480)
View more nearby sites and additional images

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"Dinas Bran" | Login/Create an Account | 2 News and Comments
  
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Re: Dinas Bran by sem on Thursday, 01 June 2017
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OS grid ref (Coflein) SJ2224043060 [updated, thank you]
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Re: Dinas Bran by TimPrevett on Friday, 28 July 2006
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Just what many of us knew all along - North Wales has some of the best blue skies in the world... and Dinas Bran has the best in the UK!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/5220106.stm
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