Candleston Castle is a 14^th century ruins of a former fortified manor house, very close to large coastal sand dunes and the very pretty village of Merthyr Mawr.  

How it's used in Merlin

Again, we don't know just yet. Percival, Merlin, Arthur and the knights were spotted there in spring 2012 but no pictures of filming were allowed.

The place itself

It's situated near the sand dunes of Merthry Mawr, in deep woods although the area around the castle is somewhere cleared. Luckily, it's high enough in elevation that the sand dunes have not overwhelmed it unlike another castle nearby but it's really a very small castle, mostly ruins. It looks like it could fall down at any moment. Visitors should be careful when looking around.

It was built in the 14^th century, occupied at that time by the de Cantilupe family, extended in the 17^th century and even in the 19^th century, it served as a farmhouse. It was finally abandoned in the late 19^th century. There was a legend that it was built on the site of an ancient oratory belonging to a Celtic chapel but it's not been confirmed.

Notes: the nearby sand dunes (the largest in Europe) were used in the movie, Lawrence of Arabia. The nearby Ogmore Castle has stepping stones across the Ewenny/Ogmore river; at low tide, you can use the stones to go across to Merthyr Mawr.

Links and details

The Wikipedia entry for Candleston Castle
The location on Google Maps
More pictures are on the merlinlocations flickr account.

There is a fee for car parking.

The address is: Merthyrmawr Road,  Merthyr Mawr, Bridgend CF32 0DT, United Kingdom

Rating

It's a very small castle and while the sand dunes beckon, it doesn't take long to look around. I'd give it 2 pointy hats.