Newcastle Castle
Newcastle Castle in Bridgend, also known as Newcastle Bridgend, is a ruined Norman castle in the centre of Bridgend, dating from the twelfth century and consisting of the remains of a round tower and gateway associated with the Norman settlement of the Vale of Glamorgan. The castle is a Cadw-managed site providing a modest but historically genuine fragment of Norman military architecture in the commercial heart of the town. The Vale of Glamorgan was one of the most thoroughly Norman-colonised areas of medieval Wales, and numerous castles, mottes and earthwork fortifications were established throughout the vale from the late eleventh century onward as part of the systematic conquest and settlement of the fertile coastal lowland of south Wales. The Vale of Glamorgan Heritage Coast to the south provides dramatic limestone cliff scenery within easy reach.