Tretower Castle
| Tretower Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
 The castle ruins from the south |
||
| Alternative name (s): | Llys a Chastell Tre-door | |
| Creation time : | from the early 12th century | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Place: | Pedal tower | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 53 '0.6 " N , 3 ° 11' 5.6" W | |
|
||
Tretower Castle ( Welsh Llys a Chastell Tre-tŵr ) is a ruined castle in Powys , Wales . The ruin, classified as a Grade I cultural monument and protected as a Scheduled Monument , is located on the southern edge of the village of Tretower, which belongs to the municipality of Llanfihangel Cwmdu with Bwlch and Cathedine .
history
A first moth with wooden fortifications was erected around 1100 by Picard, a follower of Bernard de Neufmarché after conquering the upper Usk valley . In the mid-12th century, Picard's son Roger Picard I replaced the wooden fortifications with a stone shell keep . Roger's great-grandson Roger Picard II built the large round keep within the Shell Keep between 1230 and 1240. For this purpose, its inner walls were torn down and the outer walls raised. At this time the outer bailey was also walled. During the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr , the castle was defended against Welsh attacks under Sir James Berkeley , and a new building was probably built northwest of the castle hill for the strong occupation. In the 15th century the Herbert family owned the castle, around 1450 William Herbert handed the castle over to his half-brother Roger Vaughan . Presumably from this the mansion Tretower Court east of the castle was built, while the castle fell into disrepair at the latest from the 16th century. In the 18th century, a farm was built within the courtyard, for the construction of which stones from the curtain wall were probably used. After much of the Shell Keep walls collapsed in 1947, the state bought the ruin in 1947. Extensive restoration of the ruin took place until the 1960s. The ruins are now managed by Cadw and can be visited.
investment
The castle is located about 100 m north of the Rhiangoll stream, due to a surrounding moat and the wetland surrounding the castle in the Middle Ages, it was difficult to attack.
The quarry stone castle consists of a core castle and the outer bailey to the east. The main castle consists of the round keep, which stands on the castle hill built around 1100 and is surrounded by the remains of the walls of the shell keep. The Keep consists of a basement and three additional floors, it resembles the Keep of Bronllys Castle , which was built at the same time . At the foot of the wall, its walls are about 3 m thick, the original entrance was on the first floor. The stairs to the upper floors were set into the wall. Of the shell keep walls surrounding the keep, mainly the west and south sides have been preserved, while of the walls on the north and north-east sides only the foundation walls have been preserved. On the east side there was a gatehouse originally secured with a drawbridge , of which only the foundations have been preserved. From the interior of the Shell Keep, the remains of the living hall and kitchen on the ground floor can still be seen, the lords' living quarters were on the upper floor on the west side. For the 12th century, the living rooms were lavishly furnished with architectural details and stone carvings. There was a battlement on the outer wall, from which one could get to the second floor of the keep via a wooden bridge.
To the east of the main castle was the triangular outer bailey, which was secured with round towers at the north and east corners. Only small remains of the curtain wall have survived. On the north side of the outer bailey are the buildings from the 18th century, used as a farm, which have been rebuilt several times and which include the medieval curtain wall as an outer wall.
Web links
- Internet presence of the castle
- British Listed Buildings: Tretower Castle, Llanfihangel Cwmdu with Bwlch and Cathedine
Individual evidence
- ^ Adrian Pettifer: Welsh Castles. A Guide by Counties . Boydell, Woodbridge 2000, ISBN 978-0-85115-778-8 , p. 16
- ^ Castles of Wales: Tretower Castle and Court. Retrieved November 21, 2015 .