Grosmont Castle
| Grosmont Castle | ||
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 The main castle from the south with the ruins of the keep |
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| Alternative name (s): | Castell Grysmwnt | |
| Creation time : | 12th Century | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 54 '55 " N , 2 ° 51' 57" W | |
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Grosmont Castle ( Welsh Castell Grysmwnt ) is a ruined castle in Monmouthshire , Wales . The ruin, classified as a Grade I cultural monument and protected as a Scheduled Monument , was a heavily fortified residence of the Marcher Lords .
history
Controversial border castle in the 11th and 12th centuries
Along with Skenfrith and White Castle , the castle belonged to the so-called Three Castles, which, as a castle triangle, secured the border between Wales and England in the Middle Ages and whose history is closely linked. Since the 12th century, the three castles formed a common rule.
A first ring wall was probably built by William FitzOsbern during the conquest of South Wales in 1070. However, William fell in Flanders in 1071 and his son Roger lost his lands in 1075. Under the reign of King Henry I , Grosmont fell to the Marcher Lord Pain FitzJohn , who made the castle the capital of a lordship later named after the castle between White Castle in the west and Orcop Castle in the east. Pain FitzJohn was killed in July 1137 during the Welsh uprising begun in 1134, but he had previously traded his lands with the king for property in Archenfield, Herefordshire . The now royal castle was conquered during the Anarchy in 1139 by Brian FitzCount , the Lord of Abergavenny , who passed it on to Walter of Hereford , a son of Miles de Gloucester , in 1142. Walter fell in Palestine around 1160, whereupon King Henry II occupied the castle.
Expansion into a stone castle and residence
The castle remained in the possession of the crown until King Johann Ohneland gave it to Hubert de Burgh in 1201 , who expanded the castle into a stone fortress. After Hubert was taken prisoner seriously wounded in France in 1205, the king handed the castle over to William de Braose in 1206 . Already in 1208 it fell back to the crown after de Braose's betrayal. In 1219 it was returned to Hubert de Burgh, who had it expanded between 1224 and 1226. Between 1228 and 1230 the castle was briefly owned by John de Braose , a grandson of Williams de Braose, but then fell back to de Burgh. When Heinrich III. de Burgh was released as a Justiciar in 1232 , but the king occupied the castle in 1233. During the Anglo-Welsh War , the king and his army were surprised by the Welsh and their allied rebels de Burgh and Richard Marshal during an advance into Wales and had to flee, losing their horses and equipment. In 1239 Burgh finally lost the castle to the king, who gave it to his son Edmund in 1267 . Edmund expanded the castle into one of his residences from 1274 to 1294. His grandson Henry of Grosmont , the son of Henry Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Lancaster , was born in the castle around 1310. After that, the castle remained in the possession of his heirs until it fell back to the crown with Heinrich Bolingbroke's accession to the throne in 1399. During the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr , the insurgents were defeated in 1404 at the Battle of Campston Hill near Grosmont. The following year the castle was besieged by Owain Glyndŵr , but appalled by an army from Hereford under Harry of Lancaster . In the battle of Grosmont that followed, the Welsh suffered a heavy defeat.
Decay into ruins since the 15th century
In the following centuries the castle fell into disrepair. In 1825 the Duchy of Lancaster sold the castle to the Duke of Beaufort . It was acquired by historian Joseph Bradney in 1902 before finally becoming state property in 1923. Today the ruins are looked after by Cadw .
investment
The ruin is located on the eastern outskirts of the village of Grosmont, about 16 km northwest of Monmouth on the west bank of the River Monnow on the border between Wales and England. The castle is accessed from the south through the outer courtyard, of which only the remains of the moat and the earth walls and the foundations of a farm building have been preserved. Parts of the trench have emerged in the surrounding private gardens.
The compact core castle was built from sandstone broken on site. A modern wooden bridge leads over the dry moat to the sparse remains of the gatehouse, which dates from the 13th century and was rebuilt in the 14th century. To the left of the gatehouse, the circular wall built in the 1220s leads in a semicircle around the inner courtyard. The wall is interrupted by two mighty towers, the south-western one was expanded into a five-storey keep in the late 13th century . The tower to the north of the wall was expanded into a residential building in the 14th century, part of which was already outside the old curtain wall. Only a few remains of the building remain, especially an elaborately crafted chimney. On the northeastern side of the castle are the ruins of the mighty living hall, which was built by de Burgh at the beginning of the 13th century. The two-story rectangular building was almost 30 m long and 10 m wide. The habitable ground floor was divided into two halves by an intermediate wall, and on the upper floor there was another room next to the large hall as a private room for the lords of the castle.
literature
- John Newman: The Buildings of Wales: Gwent / Monmouthshire. Yale University Press, New Haven 2000. ISBN 978-0-300-09630-9
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ British listed Buildings: Grosmont Castle Ruins, Grosmont. Retrieved October 7, 2013 .
- ↑ Ancient Monuments: Grosmont Castle. Retrieved October 7, 2013 .
- ^ Adrian Pettifer: Welsh castles: a guide by counties . Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 2000. ISBN 978-0-85115-778-8 , p. 131
- ^ WM Ormrod: Henry of Lancaster, first duke of Lancaster (c.1310-1361). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
- ^ Abergavenny: Grosmont Castle. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 14, 2013 ; Retrieved October 7, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
