Tretower Castle is a Grade I-listed ruined castle in the village of Tretower in the county of Powys, Wales. It was built around the beginning of the twelfth century as a motte and bailey castle and this was probably replaced mid-century by a stone shell keep. The castle was enlarged in the early thirteenth century, but later fell into ruin.
Tretower was founded as a motte and bailey castle by Picard, a follower of Bernard de Neufmarché. Probably around 1150, Picard's son, Roger Picard I, replaced the motte with a shell keep. By about 1230 a tall cylindrical keep was added to the inside of the shell keep, possibly by his great-grandson, Roger Picard II, and the space between was roofed over. At this time the earlier bailey was walled in stone and provided with cylindrical corner towers. In the early 14th century residential buildings were constructed away from the original fortifications forming today's Tretower Court. Over time the lords of Tretower favoured the more luxurious Court and the castle fell into disuse.
Description of the castle
The castle is roughly triangular in plan, with the motte and keep assemblage occupying the western corner. The 12th century shell-keep is an irregular enclosure with a gate-tower on the line of approach from the bailey. In the centre of the shell stands the tall cylindrical 13th century keep. The keep is of three stories, with an original entrance at first floor level, above a strong, slanted batter or talus. The top of the talus is marked by a decorative string-course of stone.

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Abergavenny Castle (Welsh: Castell y Fenni) is a ruined castle in the market town of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales, established by the Norman lord Hamelin de Balun in about 1087. It was the site of a massacre of Welsh noblemen in 1175, and was attacked during the early 15th century Glyndŵr Rising. William Camden, the 16th century antiquary, said that the castle "has been oftner stain'd with the infamy of treachery, than any other castle in Wales."
It has been a Grade I listed building since 1952.
Location
The castle is located immediately to the south of the town centre. It was built by the Normans to overlook the River Usk and its valley, and so guard against incursions into the lowland areas south and east of the town by the Welsh from the hills to the north and west.
Description
The castle, now in ruins, had a stone keep, towers, and ditch as fortifications. It also housed the family and army of the lord and had cellars, kitchens, a great hall, gatehouse, and a chapel, although it is doubtful whether any of the families treated the castle as their main residence. A curtain wall surrounded the castle.
The high, formidable curtain wall, dating from the 12th century, is now the most impressive part of the ruin. A 19th century lodge was built on the top of the motte in the 19th century.
History
11th to 14th centuries
Hamelin de Balun, a Norman lord, had the castle built about 1087. Protected by a ditch and palisade, the motte was surmounted by a wooden keep. Soon after 1100, a stone keep was built to replace the wooden structure, and a wooden hall was built on its western side.
In the 1160s, Henry Fitzmiles, the son of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford and lord of Abergavenny, was killed, reputedly by Seisyll ap Dyfnwal of Castell Arnallt. Without a male heir, Henry Fitzmiles' estate and the lordship, which included lands in upper Gwent and Brecknockshire, as well as the Castle, passed to his daughter Bertha's husband, William de Braose. De Braose rebuilt parts of the castle and constructed the curtain wall, parts of which still remain.
The castle was then the scene of an infamous massacre. Over Christmas 1175 De Braose called Seisyll and his son Geoffrey to his castle, together with other leaders from Gwent, supposedly as an act of reconciliation. De Braose then had the men killed in the castle's great hall, in retribution for the death of Henry Fitzmiles. His action, including taking the men's land, resulted in sanctions; William was "retired" from public life and the castle passed to his son, William. In 1182 Hywel ap Iorwerth, lord of Caerleon, ordered the destruction of Dingestow Castle and had Abergavenny Castle set afire in retribution for the murder of Seisyll. The attacks were made by Seisyll's relatives. De Braose was not at the castle when it was burnt, but "most of his men" were taken hostage.
The castle was almost entirely rebuilt of local Old Red Sandstone, starting about 1190, to make it easier to defend. Five towers were built along the curtain walls, and a keep was built. The English and Welsh fought for control of the Welsh Marches and, during this time, possession of the castle alternated between the Welsh and English. In 1215, the castle was visited by John, King of England.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the castle was expanded by the Hastings family, including the addition of western towers which provided residential chambers. Two towers, one circular and one polygonal, were probably built between 1295 and 1314 by John Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings. This was the same time in which murage taxes were collected from local residents to fund the building of the town walls. Between the late 13th century and the early 14th century, a new wall was built.
15th to 17th centuries
In 1404, during the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr, the town of Abergavenny was sacked and burned by Welsh forces. The fortified, or barbican, gatehouse — described by architectural historian John Newman as "unimpressive" — may date from either just before, or just after, that date.
No lord took up residence at the castle after the 15th century. During the English Civil War, as the Roundheads neared the castle, Charles I ordered a slighting of the castle to prevent its useful occupation. Most of the castle buildings, including the stone keep, were destroyed. Raglan Castle was similarly damaged. Stone from the site was taken thereafter, to be used for other buildings.
18th and 19th centuries
By the late 18th century, the ruins were starting to attract visitors seeking "picturesque" views, and walks were laid out within the castle walls.[3] In 1819, Henry Nevill, 2nd Earl of Abergavenny, had a hunting lodge constructed on top of the motte. Newman describes it "an unsympathetically utilitarian structure, enlivened only by thin polygonal shafts at the angles."
A formal public garden, now included on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens, was created later in the 19th century by William Nevill, 5th Earl of Abergavenny. It had views overlooking the Usk valley, "picturesque" walks and gardens, and gazebos.
20th and 21st centuries
The castle and the hunting lodge, now the Abergavenny Museum, have been Grade I and Grade II listed buildings, respectively, since 5 July 1952. Other features, such as the outer wall, have been listed since 2005.

Abergavenny Castle

The Brecon Beacons and the Brecon area have a long history of human habitation. Early settlements were mainly on the hill tops as the valleys would have been regularly flooded and covered in dense forest.
Evidence has been found of the manufacture of flint tools on the castle site, dating back 4000 to 5000 years. North West of the hotel is the remains of Pen-y-crug, an Iron Age hill fort. It may well have been occupied when the Romans arrived - Two miles to the west of Brecon lies Y-Gaer. a roman fort covering nearly 5 acres - The fort was built around 5O AD and may have been occupied as late as 300 AD. The first regiment in occupation probably came from North West Spain. Brecon was a Roman cross-roads and some roman roads remain visible on the Beacons even today.
In the fifth Century the local ruler is said to have sent his daughter to Ireland in search of a husband. Many of her retinue of guards died on the journey. She found her Irish Prince their son, Brychan, was sent to Wales to grow up at the Court of his grandfather. It is from the name 'Brychan' that the old country name of Brysheiniog and later 'Brecon' was derived. One of his daughters, called Tudful was killed by Barbarians. The welsh for martyr is merthyr, hence the settlement of Merthyr Tydfil 20 miles to the south got its name.
Brecon castle and town are Norman in origin. The castle came first and was the creation of Bernard de Neufmarche. He took his surname from the village of Neufmarche near Rouen, the capital of Normandy. He was of the second generation of conquerors who extended Norman influence into the Marches of Wales. By 1093 de Neufmarche and his knights had defeated the Welsh rulers of south Wales and began to build themselves the castles from which they intended to control their new lands.
What did he build and why did he choose this site? The second question is easier to answer - The confluence of the Usk and Honddu and the existence of fords across the Usk close by were the chief reasons - Water was useful for defence and for power to drive mills. There was then no bridge across the Usk so the fords were important points on the east-west route between the Norman bases in the east and their further expansion westwards. The upstream ford is still known as Rhyd Bernard and marked as such on some older Ordnance Survey maps.

The earliest castle was on the type known as a motte and bailey. The great earth mound, now in the Bishop's Palace garden, opposite the hotel, was the motte on top of which there was originally a timber keep. The bailey or courtyard below the motte extended to cover the present garden and, presumably part of the site of the hotel; the embankment on the north side can be clearly seen in the garden. Even in this early stage the castle must have been a daunting sight. This is exactly what the Normans intended; a deterrent to subdue the hostile Welsh.

However not all the buildings associated with this early castle were military in appearance or function. A charter of c.11OO provides information about the growth of the civilian settlement which soon accompanied the castle. By this charter Bernard de Neufmarche granted lands and privileges to the monastery which he established just to the north of the castle. This Benedictine Priory occupied the site of the present cathedral. He gave the monks the profits from two corn mills; one on the Usk, which was near the weir at the end of the promenade, the other was at the foot of the hill below the castle. This is now occupied by a veterinary surgeon. The grant also included burgages within the castle. A burgage was a unit of land in a medieval town. The significant point here is that this first reference to a civilian settlement in Brecon locates the site inside the castle.

The Normans built hundreds of castles in the two centuries after 1066. In almost all cases they started as motte and baileys with timber buildings. But the more important were enlarged and strengthened and this occurred at Brecon. The castle soon became the administrative and military headquarters of the great Lordship of Brecon. Its important strategic position also warranted making the castle more powerful. The most dramatic alteration as the substitution of stone for timber buildings. The surviving parts of the castle indicate this process. On top of the motte are the remains of a shell keep which dates from the middle of the thirteenth century. The largest surviving structure, next to the hotel, is part of the thirteenth century Hall. Adjoining the wall on the Honddu side is a semi-octagonal tower of the early fourteenth century.

What did Brecon castle look like at the height of its importance in the medieval period? Unfortunately there is no drawing earlier than Speed's (of 1610) and very little archaeological work has been done on the site. Consequently what follows is based on documentary references, the surviving fabric and comparisons with other castles which have survived in more complete form.

There. were two entrances as well as the postern gate. The main gate faced west and overlooked the Usk. It was approached across a drawbridge and probably guarded by two semi-circular towers and the usual great door and portcullis. From the town direction the castle was also guarded by a drawbridge on the site of the present bridge which crosses the Honddu. These gates were joined by the encircling curtain wail. which enclosed the whole area of the castle. Within these outer defences the most imposing building was the great Hall; this was the social centre of the castle and the Lordship where the Lords of Brecon held court when in the area. (The surviving medieval halls at Christ College - across the river from the castle - give a good idea of what it must have looked like inside. The private apartments of the Lord were next to the Hall. There are references to other rooms and buildings in the medieval documents. For example the Constable and the Receiver (of taxes and dues) had their own chambers. There was a chapel, exchequer, kitchen, harness tower, stable and porter's chamber. The well was described as being 30 feet deep. These buildings suggest that the castle was more like a bustling town than the romantic, military fortress of imagination. People from the surrounding Lordship came to the courts held at the castle, they paid their dues to the exchequer, they pleaded for privileges or came with supplies of food, timber and other necessaries.
Nonetheless there were many occasions when the drawbridges were raised and the castle played its military role as an alien strong point in a hotly disputed part of the country. It was attacked six times between 1215 and 1273; three of the assaults were successful - in 1215, 1264 and 1265. Much of this warfare was part of the three hundred year struggle between the Normans and the Welsh which began with the conquest and lasted until the Glyndwr revolt. There was another cause of war in the Marches -the power struggles involving Kings and their barons. The military events which affected the castle and the town in the thirteenth century must be seen in this wider, national context.
Marcher Lordships differed from the rest of Britain. Lords were able to set up their own system of law, they were, in effect. petty Kings. The King had little right to interfere in internal affairs of the Lordship unless the Lord were guilty of treason or felony.
For the Lords of Brecon were among the most powerful men in the. Kingdom. Their possessions in this area were only a part of their vast lands. De Neufmarche was succeeded by his daughter Sybil who married the Earl of Hereford. Their Brecon estates passed to William de Braose. They remained in the de Braose family for about a hundred years then by marriage the Brecon and Hereford lands of the original Lordship were united in the possession of Humphrey de Bohun. The Lordship was in royal hands from the late fourteenth century to the middle of the fifteenth when it was granted to the Staffords who were to be the last Lords of Brecon. All these families were ambitious politically and this involved them in wars, rebellions and conspiracies. For this reason Brecon in the middle ages was often caught up in important events and was much closer to great national issues than in later centuries.
The careers of the two last Dukes of Buckingham illustrate this vividly. Henry Stafford. the second duke, had been a supporter of Richard 111 but they had fallen out and Henry retired to his castle at Brecon. Here he plotted against the King. His accomplice was a prisoner at the castle, John Morton, Bishop of Ely. (After whom the Ely Tower and Ely place are named.) The duke raised an army to oppose the King but his rebellion failed and he was executed. The bishop fled abroad and joined the Earl of Richmond who was soon to defeat Richard 111 at Bosworth and to become the first Tudor monarch, Henry VII. The King employed the bishop as one of his most efficient tax collectors; he was the Morton of Morton's fork : The new King also rewarded the Stafford family for their loyalty. Edward, born in Brecon castle in February 1478, was granted all the honours, titles and lands which had belonged to his father. However the second Tudor found it necessary to execute this the third and last duke. In 1521 Buckingham very rashly flaunted his royal connections and claim to the throne. At the time, when Henry VIII had no legitimate heir.
This was tantamount to treason and was punished accordingly - So perished the last of the Lords of Brecon. By now the Tudors were determined to eliminate the quasi-independent powers which such magnates had enjoyed. By acts of parliament passed in 1536 and 1543 the Marches were finally brought under royal control. In place of the Lordship of Brecon there appeared the County of Brecknock
These changes together with a revolution in building styles and standards meant that the age of the castle was also over The Tudor peace allowed landowners to put a higher premium on comfort than security. Great houses began to replace draughty castles. It is ironic that when the castle entered this period of decline there is more information about its condition and appearance than when it was a powerful fortress. A survey of the buildings carried out in 1552 contains many references to the repairs which were necessary. The roofs lacked lead and much of the timber needed replacing. However Speed's map shows a mighty castle in 1610. But many of the buildings on his map are symbols rather than accurate representations of what was there In 1645 a Royalist referred to the castle and town walls as having been demolished by the inhabitants; presumably to prevent Brecon being strongly fortified and thus suffering a damaging siege. His remarks are exaggerated because later writers and artists describe the castle as an impressive ruin. The drawing by Buck, dated 1741, is the best example.

Parts of the castle were put to use. For example the chapel -dedicated to St. Nicholas - was a goal until 1690 when it was demolished. Further information is provided by estate maps of the town which were drawn in the second half of the eighteenth century. A map Of 1761 shows the great Hall with its windows and to the west a building with two chimneys. North of this is a rectangular enclosure. On a plan drawn twenty years later this is described as a Bowling Green - The state of the castle ruins continued to deteriorate and was the object of disparaging comments by visitors to Brecon. For example 'The Cambrian Traveller's Guide & Pocket Companion of 1808' referred to the magnificent Castle.. (which) is now curtailed to a very insignificant ruin; and that little is so choked up and disfigured with miserable habitations, as to exhibit no token of its ancient grandeur.'
However this sad situation was soon to change - The Morgan family of Tredegar Park had extensive Breconshire connections and their attention was now turned to the castle and the house adjoining. Work on repairing the house began in 1809. During the next few years considerable sums of money were spent turning house into hotel. A steel engraving of this date gives a detailed view of the building which is clearly recognisable as the present hotel -(The engraving was done by Bourdon one of the numerous French prisoners-of-war held in Brecon during the Napoleonic wars.). The success of the Morgans' investment can be gauged by the prominence given to the Castle Hotel in later guides. By 1835 an impressive list of coaches called at the Castle Hotel; journeys to London on the Royal Mail, to Aberystwyth, Bristol, Carmarthen, Llandrindod.

Brecon Castle

The landowners of Breconshire and Radnorshire had tremendous power and influence over the lives of ordinary people. The owners of Maesllwch Castle, Glasbury were to figure in the public life of both counties over four centuries.
Origins of the name
The current spelling of the name is Maesllwch, which translates from the Welsh as "field by the pool" (probably one of the several pools in the river Wye). Maesllwch was an ancient manor, and was variously spelled over the centuries as English speaking clerks struggled with Welsh names in an age when there was no standardised spelling: 1584 - Maisloughe or Maislowghe; c1700 - Mas Llwch; c1817 - Maeslough House.
In the census records, the spelling varied, though by this time it is always "Castle" no longer "House", because of the considerable works being carried out on it at various times after the 1830s. In the censuses from 1841 to 1881 it is spelt "Maeslough", and in the 1851 and 1891 censuses the Castle is spelt "Maesllwch".
The extract from a one inch map of around 1836 reproduced above shows Maesllwch Castle and its park dominating the village. 

Maesllwch Castle

White Castle, also known historically as Llantilio Castle, is a ruined castle near the village of Llantilio Crossenny in Monmouthshire, Wales. The fortification was established by the Normans in the wake of the invasion of England in 1066, to protect the route from Wales to Hereford. Possibly commissioned by William fitz Osbern, the Earl of Hereford, it comprised three large earthworks with timber defences. In 1135, a major Welsh revolt took place and in response King Stephen brought together White Castle and its sister fortifications of Grosmont and Skenfrith to form a lordship known as the "Three Castles", which continued to play a role in defending the region from Welsh attack for several centuries.
King John gave the castle to a powerful royal official, Hubert de Burgh, in 1201. Over the next few decades, it passed back and forth between several owners, as Hubert, the rival de Braose family, and the Crown took control of the property. During this period, White Castle was substantially rebuilt, with stone curtain walls, mural towers and gatehouses, forming what the historian Paul Remfry considers to be "a masterpiece of military engineering". In 1267 it was granted to Edmund, the Earl of Lancaster, and remained in the hands of the earldom, and later duchy, of Lancaster until 1825.
Edward I's conquest of Wales in 1282 removed much of White Castle's military utility, and by the 16th century it had fallen into disuse and ruin. The castle was placed into the care of the state in 1922, and is now managed by the Cadw Welsh heritage agency.

White Castle

Cyfarthfa Castle is a castellated mansion that was the home of the Crawshay family, ironmasters of Cyfarthfa Ironworks in Park, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The house commanded a view of the valley and the works, which ‘at night, offer a truly magnificent scene, resembling the fabled Pandemonium, but on which the eye may gaze with pleasure’. Cyfarthfa loosely translates from the Welsh for place of barking. The reason is hunting dogs were regularly heard in this area of the town, hunting polecats and weasels among others.
Despite appearing to be a fortified building, it is a house built in the style of a large mansion with a large kitchen, bake house and dairy, billiard room, library, and a range of reception rooms. In addition, there is a brew house, icehouse and extensive storage cellars that used to contain over 15,000 individual bottles of wines and spirits such as Sherry, Champagne, Whiskey, Brandy, Madeira Wine, and over 7,500 bottles of port. Adjoining the building were also stable blocks and coach houses. The castle stands in 158-acre (64 ha) of parkland, now called Cyfarthfa Park and maintained by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council.
The castle was designed in 1824 by the architect Robert Lugar for William Crawshay II, and built at a cost of approximately £30,000 using locally quarried stone. The Crawshays lived in the house until 1889. The noise and pollution made Cyfarthfa Castle unattractive to William; he preferred a site that overlooked the works rather than one that sat within it.
The castle was sold in 1908 to the local council, who were initially unsure as to what purpose it should be put. Eventually, they decided to use part of the ground floor for a museum, which still operates. The museum includes paintings, including two by James Inskipp.
The rest of the building became a secondary school, and it was opened in 1913, operating as separate boys' and girls' schools. In 1945, they amalgamated, and in accordance with government policy the school was redesignated as a Grammar school under the name of Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School. It became a comprehensive school in 1970, under the name Cyfarthfa High School.
The Entrance Hall is one of the most elegant rooms of the house and this is where the shop and reception area are located. Much of the decoration has a mock-Tudor feel; the small shields around the frieze, the tall pillars round the windows, huge Gothic doors and the superb red and clear glass windows that fill the rear of the hall, all add to the imposing grandeur. When the house was completed in 1825, the hall was the largest room and was, undoubtedly, the room in which the Crawshays held any large functions. It remained the largest room in the house until the school – which occupied the vast majority of the building from 1913 – knocked smaller rooms into one and created large halls. The ceiling depicts the white rose of Yorkshire, the original home of the Crawshay family.
Facilities and events
The park has acres of walks and a miniature steam railway run by Merthyr Tydfil Model Engineering Society since 1987. Canolfan Cyfarthfa, a conference center, is also in the park. It has function rooms and a seasonal café, a children's playground complete with a ‘Splash Pad’, a 9-hole golf course, bowling grounds and tennis courts, and a fishing lake. The park also hosts events throughout the year such as car shows, horse shows and concerts.
On 30 June 2007, Donny Osmond, who traces his family history to Merthyr Tydfil, performed the 'Donny Comes Home' concert in the park grounds. The concert was attended by 15,000 people despite unseasonably heavy rain. On 26 July 2008, Status Quo performed in the park grounds.
The Museum and Art Gallery are set in restored Regency rooms and contain a superb collection of family memorabilia, fine and decorative art, curios from around the world and social history material.
The Playroom is the Castle's temporary exhibition space. When the Crawshay family lived there the room had a very different purpose. This was one of several rooms that were solely for use of the Crawshay children, hence the name Playroom. William Crawshay had many children and he adored having his children close, which is why all the children’s areas of the house surround his office. The Playroom hosts a wide variety of temporary exhibitions each year, from contemporary and classical art exhibitions, to community and social history exhibitions.

Cyfarthfa Castle

Grosmont Castle is a remarkably well-preserved three phase fortress. It was quite possibly founded by Earl William Fitz Osbern during his invasion of South Wales in 1070. Earl William was killed the next year and his son Roger was stripped of his lands in 1075. The land on which Grosmont Castle was built now passed either under the control of the Ballon family of Abergavenny or the Lacys of Weobley and Longtown. The powerful Marcher baron Payn Fitz John acquired Grosmont in the reign of King Henry I (1100-35) and converted it into the head of a lordship which stretched from White Castle in the west to Orcop Castle in the east. During the early twelfth century the castle was the centre or caput of what was known as the Honour of Grosmont. The great hall was one of the first features constructed of the castle and this was used as the civil capital of the lordship. Certainly this hall was not the work of Earl Hubert Burgh in the early thirteenth century as is often claimed. Just compare the one surviving door jamb of the hall to those of Hubert Burgh’s work which can also be seen within his fortresses at Skenfrith and White Castle. One is typically ‘twelfth’ century, the others ‘thirteenth’.
The early hall at Grosmont was most probably built within 40 years either side of 1110. It still stands two stories high and has many features of comfort within its walls. There are many reasons to believe that this hall was built early in the castle’s history for the evidence points clearly to Grosmont castle having been fortified in stone from the first. Who actually first built the castle though, is more of a problem.
Both the first earls of Hereford and Payn Fitz John had a great deal of wealth and ruled Gwent at a time when the stable rule of the Normans in Wales seemed inevitable. Grosmont hall is certainly not a fortress. It was built as the administrative centre of a barony with both comfort and administration in mind. White Castle to the west, however, was built as a fortress from the first, probably in concert with the foundation of Grosmont. Orcop to the east, a true motte and bailey castle, may be older.
In 1134 rebellion broke out in Wales and in July 1137 Payn Fitz John was killed in action fighting against the Welsh. Immediately before his death Payn granted all his honour of Grosmont to King Stephen in exchange for the province of Archenfield. With the Angevin rebellion of 1139 Brian Fitz Count of Abergavenny took Grosmont Castle from the king and in 1142 granted it by charter to Walter Hereford. This is our first certain historical mention of the fortress. Walter was killed around 1160 fighting in the Holy Land. At this point King Henry II (1154-89) reclaimed the castle and placed royal soldiers within its walls. The castle, requiring little maintenance, remained a royal fortress for the next forty years. In 1201 it was granted to Hubert Burgh ‘for his maintenance’ in the wars of the period. In 1205 he was wounded almost to death in the Loire valley and the castle passed for a few years to the Braose family while Hubert recovered his health. After the death of King John in 1216 Hubert regained his castles in the Welsh Marches in 1219. It was Hubert who was responsible for turning the administrative castle of Grosmont into a fortress. Royal records from when Hubert was running the government of England, show that he was undertaking building work at Grosmont between 1224 and 1226. His work gave the castle much of its appearance today. His buildings included the gatehouse, which has mostly disappeared in the last 100 years, and the three D-shaped towers in the castle’s enceinte. In 1233 the castle witnessed the rout of King Henry III’s army by rebel English and Welsh forces, who included in their midst Earl Hubert Burgh himself! In the aftermath of this victory Hubert was granted back Grosmont Castle and he held it until his final fall from grace in 1239.
In 1267 King Henry III granted the castle to his second son Prince Edmund and this man undertook the conversion of the fortress of Earl Hubert Burgh into one of his main residences. He demolished one of Hubert Burgh’s D-shaped towers and built accommodation over it and raised the height and extended the South-West tower to make it into a five-storeyed great tower or keep. The living quarters of this massive tower could only be approached via a wooden stairway to the north. To the east was a giant false doorway which only allowed access to the ground and first floors. The steps currently seen rising up to the castle wall walk from this doorway is the work of twentieth century restorers who are also responsible for the creation of much of the double doorway into the early hall. Most of Prince Edmund’s rebuilding at Grosmont was carried out probably in the period 1274 to 1294. Part of this reconstruction included the building of the great chimney of which Grosmont is justifiably famous.
Before leaving the village of Grosmont be sure to visit the church, the nave of which is built in the same style as the early great hall of the castle. The tower and other parts of the church fabric were built by Edmund for his mother, Queen Eleanor, the wife of Henry III. Within its walls are the much eroded remains of an effigy of a twelfth century knight. There is now no evidence to this knight’s identity, but perhaps he was the engineer Ralph Grosmont, so strongly entwined with the history of all three royal castles of Skenfrith, Grosmont and White Castle.