Clifford Castle
Clifford Castle is a ruined castle in the village of Clifford , about 6.5 km north of Hay-on-Wye in the Wye Valley in the English county of Herefordshire . The castle was the caput of the Barony of Clifford, a Marcher Lordship (who owed the king direct allegiance but separate from the rest of the kingdom).
history
William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford , built an early moth in 1070 on a ledge over a ford on the River Wye on a wasteland formerly owned by Browning . The castle was to provide shelter for a planned Norman settlement of sizable size above the River Wye. The settlement should comprise about 200 lots and extend about 800 meters up the slope, towards Llanfair , where a church was on top of the hill. St. Mary's Church has been preserved to this day - significantly changed in the Victorian era . The location of the castle near the river ensured that the floodplain around the castle was seasonally full of water and so, supported by a dam on the western, upstream side of the site, formed a shallow lake or swamp, which as an additional Defense system served.
After FitzOsbern fell at the Battle of Cassel , the castle fell to his son, Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford . Roger de Breteuil forfeited his lands through his rebellion against King William the Conqueror in 1075, who then gave the castle to Raoul II. De Tosny as a fief. The de Tosnys then had the castle rebuilt in stone, similar to their Château Conches in Normandy . Since Raoul de Tosny spent most of his time in Normandy, he leased the castle to Gilbert, Sheriff of Hereford , for an annual lease of 60 shillings.
After Raoul de Tosny's daughter Margaret married Walter FitzRichard , he became the manager of the land and property, later claimed it for himself and took the name "Walter de Clifford" sometime before 1162. Walter de Clifford's daughter, Rosamund Clifford (also known as "beautiful Rosamund" because of her beauty) was known as King Henry II's mistress , which she remained until her death in 1176 or 1177. She is buried in Godstow , Oxfordshire . A property near the castle is now called Rosamund House , and one of the castle towers still standing today is called Rosamund's Tower .
In 1233 Walter de Clifford's son and heir, Walter II. De Clifford, rebelled against the autocratic regime of King Henry III. At the beginning of September of that year, the king and his troops came up, besieged Clifford Castle and in a few days forced the garrison to give up. Walter II. De Clifford then made his peace with the crown and led his troops against Prince Llywelyn from Iorwerth , his father-in-law. Walter II. Clifford's U-turn was doubly shameful, as Prince Llywelyn was just going into the field to support Walter II. De Clifford in the fight against the king. Twenty years later, Walter II de Clifford almost rebelled again when, in a fit of fury, he forced a royal messenger to eat a royal edict, along with the royal wax seal the size of a dinner plate. Because of this action, Walter II. De Clifford lost most of his privileges as Marcher Lord .
Walter II. De Clifford had no male descendants and so after his death sometime in the 1260s, Clifford Castle fell to his daughter, Matilda Clifford , widow of the Earl of Salisbury . In the Second War of the Barons , John Giffard of Brimpsfield captured the castle, kidnapped and raped Matilda, and forced her to marry him. Although Gifford was punished, Matilda stopped all further action against him and decided to adopt her former rapist as her husband. They lived together on the Cliffords estate until Giffard's death in 1299, after which the King Clifford Castle gave the Mortimers of Wigmore as a fief.
Decay
After the English crown successfully conquered Wales , the strategic value of Clifford Castle decreased significantly and the castle was left to decay. Even if the castle was garrisoned again in 1402 against the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr , it was no longer used. The damage sustained during the uprising was no longer repaired, it was abandoned and fell into ruin. A large part of its stone walls was looted to build the older houses still preserved in the village. Large plastered stone blocks can still be seen in numerous garden walls today.
Excavations
1920s
O. Trumper , the then owner of the estate, carried out a series of excavations from 1925 to 1928 that uncovered the foundations of the twin towers on either side of the castle entrance, as well as a large building (which included an annex and outer bailey ) to the east of the Castle grounds. Evidence of a south tower, guard room and vestibule was also found along with a section of the curtain wall . But pieces were also found that had nothing to do with the castle, e.g. B. a tusk of a boar , a vertebra of a wolf and a Roman brooch .
1950s
Another series of excavations was carried out from 1950 to 1953. The foundations of a tower on the mound and further sections of the curtain wall were found. A complete excavation of the barbican was carried out and evidence of a road leading to the castle was found. The finds from that time include z. B. pottery and iron goods, arrowheads, a knife, a bullet mold, a key, iron nails and part of a rein.
today
The castle ruins are currently listed in the 2010 Heritage at Risk Register by English Heritage. The current owners are working closely with English Heritage to find a conservation strategy that should be followed by a work program to stabilize the structure that is preserved today and prevent further deterioration. Most at risk are the Rosamund's Tower and the arched window in the great hall .
Clifford Castle now consists of a large moth that the people of William FitzOsbern built in the late 1060s. This was later divided and the eastern part crowned by a donjon with an oval floor plan, which is surrounded by five D-shaped towers. The northern wall apparently overlays part of FitzOsbern's original knight's hall. The outer bailey is to the east of the mound. Most of the walls of this ensemble have disappeared, but in the center are the remains of the two-tower gatehouse, which is believed to date from the mid-13th century. In the western part of the castle ruins there is a broken earthwork dam , with the help of which the valley south of the castle was previously flooded. If you include the River Wye in the north of the castle, the fortress was surrounded by water on all sides except the east. So Clifford Castle was difficult to take by storm. The castle ruins are located on private property and are not open to the public.
A branch of the Great Western Railway ran north of the castle, between the castle and the river. The nearest train station to the north was in nearby Clifford, the next south in Hay-on-Wye . This station was also the terminus of the Great Western Railway; the continuation of the route was called the Golden Valley Railway . The Great Western Railway named one of their Castle Class locomotives after Clifford Castle .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Clifford: Clifford Castle . Herefordshire Through Time. Herefordshire Council. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
swell
- PM Remfry: Clifford Castle, 1066 to 1299 . ISBN 1-899376-04-6
- Plantagenet Somerset Fry: The David & Charles Book of Castles . David & Charles, Newton Abbott 1980. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3
Web links
- Clifford Castle . Castles99.
- Clifford Castle . Castle Wales.
- Clifford Castle . E-castles.
- English Heritage Heritage At Risk Register 2010 . Historic England.
Coordinates: 52 ° 6 ′ 15.9 ″ N , 3 ° 6 ′ 24 ″ W.