Narberth Castle
| Narberth Castle | ||
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 The buildings in the south of the castle after the restoration in 2005 |
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| Alternative name (s): | Castell Arberth | |
| Creation time : | around 1100 | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Place: | Narberth | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 47 '45.9 " N , 4 ° 44' 33.2" W | |
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Narberth Castle ( Welsh Castell Arbert ) is a ruined castle in Pembrokeshire , Wales . The ruin, classified as a Grade I cultural monument and protected as a Scheduled Monument , is located on the southern edge of the city center of Narberth . The castle, which was the center of a small Anglo-Norman rule, has not yet been clarified in many details.
history
Early Middle Ages
The origin of the castle in the early Middle Ages is unclear. Allegedly, after the Mabinogion , the place of today's castle was the residence of the mystical Welsh prince Pwyll von Dyfed .
A first castle was probably built by one of his followers after the Norman conquest of South West Wales by Arnulf de Montgomery . It is said to have been built by Sir Stephen Perrot in 1092 , but this depiction from the beginning of the 19th century cannot be proven, even the existence of a Stephen Perrot is uncertain. The location of this first castle is also uncertain. Some historians see Motte Sentence Castle , located about 3 km south of today's castle near Templeton, as the location of the first castle, other researchers suspect that the first Norman castle was built on the site of the current ruin. However, there is no archaeological evidence for this thesis.
The Norman castle, which was only an earth and wood fortification, was probably attacked as early as 1113 during a Welsh rebellion and was conquered and destroyed by Gruffydd ap Rhys in 1116 , but was immediately rebuilt. The region remained under the sovereignty of the Norman Lords of Pembroke and was given to Henry FitzHenry around 1130 , who referred to himself as the Lord of Narberth . After Henry FitzHenry fell in battle against the Welsh in 1157, the names of the Anglo-Norman lords of the castle are uncertain. The castle was probably fought over from 1189, when fighting broke out again between the Welsh under Lord Rhys and the English. In 1199 at the latest, Narberth and Pembrokeshire fell to William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke . Probably 1215 and like the nearby Wiston Castle in 1220, the castle was conquered by the Welsh men under Llywelyn from Iorwerth , but in 1223 it was recaptured by William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , in another Anglo-Welsh war .
The stone castle from the 13th century
After the death of Anselm Marshal in 1246, Roger Mortimer of Wigmore Narberth inherited the castle, making it the center of a separate rule of the Welsh Marches . Possibly now, at the latest after another destruction by Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in 1257, the construction of a relatively small, but strongly fortified stone castle began at the current location, which, however, played no further role in the conquest of Wales by King Edward I until 1283. In 1282 Roger Mortimer of Chirk inherited the castle. When he fought in the service of the king in Gascony in 1299, the castle, like the nearby St Clears Castle , was burned down in a Welsh revolt in 1299 , but was subsequently rebuilt. After Roger Mortimer of Chirk had unsuccessfully rebelled against King Edward II in the Despenser War , he lost his possessions. The king gave the castle and the rule to the Welsh Rhys ap Gruffydd . In 1337 he had to return the castle to King Edward III. who handed it over to Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March , in 1354 . His grandson Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March , passed Narberth on to his younger brother Edmund Mortimer . When he had joined the Welsh rebels during the Owain Glyndŵr rebellion , Narberth was confiscated by King Henry IV in 1402 . The castle remained under English control with a small garrison, the commandant, Thomas Carew , was appointed Lord of Narberth in 1404. After the end of the rebellion, the castle fell back to Edmund Mortimer's nephew of the same name, the 5th Earl of March , after whose childless death in 1425 Richard of York inherited the rule. This gave it in 1449 to the Welsh Gruffudd ap Nicolas , who was overthrown in 1456 at the latest. In 1460 the castle fell back to the crown, but by this time it had already lost its military importance.
The castle from the 16th century
In 1516 the castle was given to the powerful Vice Justice of South Wales Rhys ap Thomas . Allegedly Rhys ap Thomas had the castle expanded to be more comfortable, but this is controversial. After Rhys' grandson Rhys ap Gruffydd Fitzurien was executed as a traitor in 1531, Narberth fell back to the crown. At that time, the fortifications were already in ruins. With the laws for the incorporation of Wales from 1535 Narberth lost its status as an independent rule. Around 1620, the country nobleman George Barlow bought the ruined castle, which was still the seat of the court at that time, with its property and the remaining rights. During the English Civil War , the castle no longer played a role. Probably a tenant lived in part of the castle until 1677, after which it was finally abandoned, was used as a quarry and fell into disrepair.
The site of the ruin was leased from Pembrokeshire County Council . After archaeological investigations carried out between 2003 and 2004, the ruin was restored and secured and has been open to the public since 2006.
investment
The ruin lies on a cliff that slopes steeply on three sides, from which the valley and the Narberth Brook could be controlled. The castle was built as an irregular rectangle around only one courtyard, with a length of about 50 m from north to south and about 25 m width it was relatively small. With four round corner towers and a small wall tower on the west side and a gatehouse, however, the complex was strongly fortified. The access was on the north side, which was protected by a ditch; a possible outer bailey there is not occupied. The south side was protected by a semicircular forework. The two round towers on the south side are still in ruins. Three floors of the south-western tower, the so-called chapel tower, are still preserved, making it the best preserved part of the castle. It also served as a bakery. Only parts of the walls of the south-eastern tower have survived, only small remains of the two towers on the north side and almost no remains of the gatehouse. On the south side of the castle there was presumably a former two-story residential building, of which parts of the courtyard side of the ground floor are still preserved. The kitchen was on this ground floor, while the living room was on the floor above. The vaulted cellar of another building on the east side, which was probably also used as a residential building, has been preserved.
literature
- Neil Ludlow: The castle and Lordship of Narberth . (PDF) In: Journal of the Pembrokeshire Historical Society . 12, 2003, pp. 5-43.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ British Listed Buildings: Narberth Castle, castle Street, Narberth. Retrieved November 26, 2015 .
- ^ Neil Ludlow: The castle and Lordship of Narberth. In: Journal of the Pembrokeshire Historical Society. Vol. 12 (2003), p. 5
- ^ Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales: An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Wales and Monmouthshire: VII - County of Pembroke . London 1925, p. 447
- ^ Neil Ludlow: The castle and Lordship of Narberth. In: Journal of the Pembrokeshire Historical Society. Vol. 12 (2003), p. 6
- ^ Neil Ludlow: The castle and Lordship of Narberth. In: Journal of the Pembrokeshire Historical Society. Vol. 12 (2003), p. 18
- ^ Archeology in Wales: Narberth Castle, Pembrokeshire 2003-2004. Retrieved November 28, 2015 .