The castle was designed as an oval ringwork, probably topped by wicker fence defences, and reused the remains of the former Roman fort of Leucarum.

John de Braose acquired the castle in 1220 and repaired it, constructing a stone curtain wall to replace the older defences.

The ruined tower and fragments of the curtain wall still survive on top of the ringwork's earthwork defences, which now resemble a motte, or mound, and are part of the Loughor Castle Park.

[3] Its location provided good visibility across the region and enabled it to support naval units operating in the Bristol Channel.

[5] The Normans began to make incursions into South Wales from the late-1060s onwards, pushing westwards from their bases in recently occupied England.

[6] Their advance was marked by the construction of castles, frequently on old Roman sites, for example those at Cardiff, Pevensey and Portchester, and the creation of regional lordships.

[7] Reusing former Roman sites in this way produced considerable savings in the manpower required to construct the large earth fortifications of the early castles.

[14] The ringwork had a protective wicker fence around the top of the earthworks and possibly some form of early stone or wooden tower, with a gateway just to the north side of it.

[18] War broke out again across South-West Wales in 1189 on the death of Henry II, as Rhys and his sons attempted to reclaim the region.

[20] Two years later, however, Reginald made peace with the English Crown and Llywelyn removed him from power, replacing him with the Welsh prince Rhys Gryg.

[21] Contemporary chroniclers recorded that Rhys Gryg deliberately destroyed all the castles in Gower as part of his campaign to dominate the area.

[18] In 1302, William de Braose granted the Loughor estate to his seneschal, John Yweyn, for life, in exchange for an annual fee of a greyhound collar.

[26] The castle was painted by the artist William Butler in the 1850s, who depicted the ruins alongside the local industries and the new railway line that had been cut through the remains of the former Roman fort.