Grodno Castle (formerly Kynsburg) is a castle located in the southern parts of the Wałbrzych Mountains, on the Choina Mountain (450 metres), standing to the left of the river Bystryca. The valley of this river, formerly known as the Silesian Valley, creates a natural boundary between the Owl Mountains and to the west of it the Wałbrzych Mountains. The castle is located in Zagórze Śląskie (11 km east of Wałbrzych), Lower Silesian Voivodeship in Poland.
The picturesque location of the castle is exacerbated by the barraged Lubachowskie Lake in the foothills of the mountain.
According to tradition the castle was built in 1193, by Duke Boleslaw I the Tall. The castle, together with a network of fortresses was used as a defense line between the Duchy of Jawor and the Kingdom of Bohemia. In the sixteenth century Grodno Castle was expanded by a gatehouse, on which there is precious sgraffito, and a sundial clock from 1716. The castle was devastated in battles against the Swedes during the Thirty Years' War, slowly falling into ruins. In the nineteenth century the tower had collapsed. The last owner of Grodno, was the Zedlits family, which had continued renovation works and strengthened the castle
References:The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.
The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick.