Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, ruler of Gwynedd, probably began Dolwyddelan Castle to guard the route from Nant Conwy to Meirionydd. Main construction ran from about 1210 to 1240. The article names no architect. The west tower dates to the late 13th or early 14th century, and it is uncertain who built it.
The castle has a roughly circular enclosure on a small knoll, formed by a rectangular keep on the east, a west tower and linking curtain walls. It is built of local gritstone and slate rubble, with dressed stone in the west tower. Edward I's forces captured it on January 18, 1283.
Peter Drummond-Burrell, 22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby, restored the keep and raised it to its present height from 1848 to 1850. Cadw now manages the castle. It is a Grade I listed building and a scheduled monument.
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