Monmouth Castle

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Monmouth Castle
Castell Trefynwy
Monmouth, Wales
Ruins of the castle
Monmouth Castle is located in Monmouthshire
Monmouth Castle
Monmouth Castle
Coordinates51°48′45″N 2°43′00″W / 51.8125°N 2.7167°W / 51.8125; -2.7167
Site information
ConditionRuin
Site history
Built1067; 957 years ago (1067)
Built byWilliam FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford
Listed Building – Grade I

Monmouth Castle (Welsh: Castell Trefynwy) is a castle close to the centre of the town of Monmouth, the county town of Monmouthshire, on a hill above the River Monnow in south-east Wales.

Once an important border castle, and birthplace of Henry V of England, it stood until the English Civil War when it was damaged and changed hands three times before being slighted to prevent it being fortified again. After partial collapse in 1647, the site was reused and built over by Great Castle House, which became the headquarters and regimental museum of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers.

It is a Grade I listed building and scheduled monument.

Early Norman border castle

Immediately after the

Marcher Lordships between the Dee and Severn, and further west. Military adventurers came to Wales from Normandy and elsewhere, raided an area of Wales, and then fortified it and granted land to some of their supporters.[3]

William FitzOsbern established Monmouth Castle between 1066 and 1069 as a counterpart to his other major castle at

White Castle and Abergavenny Castle. The wooden castle had stonework added before 1150.[7] Its tower shares some similarities with that of Chepstow Castle, another stronghold built for FitzOsbern further south, at the lower end of the River Wye.[7]

Expansion and later use

After briefly being held by

Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster.[9] During this period large decorated windows were installed in the upper part of the Great Tower which also had a new roof.[7] As a town developed around the castle, the castle's defences were augmented by a town wall and fortified bridge, built at the end of the 13th century.[10]

Edward II briefly was held prisoner in the castle before he was transferred to Berkeley Castle where he died.[11] The castle was a favourite residence of Henry Bolingbroke, later King as Henry IV. It was here that in 1386 the future King Henry V of England was born, to Bolingbroke's first wife Mary de Bohun.[12]

The turmoil and conflict in Wales during the ten years of the Owain Glyndŵr rebellion did not directly affect Monmouth Castle as it was a stronghold of the region and lesser targets presented themselves more readily to essentially a guerilla army. However other local towns, settlements and castles were directly attacked with Grosmont and Abergavenny being razed and Crickhowell Castle and Newport Castle successfully attacked.[13]

Over the centuries, as its defensive function diminished, the outer

Courts of Assize began to be held in the castle's Great Hall.[14]

Civil War

Plan of the castle, published in 1904[15]

In the tumult of the

Monmouth School. The demolition took months, and Pye's diary also recorded the collapse on 22 December 1647; "about twelve o'clock, the Tower in the Castle of Monmouth fell down, upon one side, whilst we were at sermon".[20] William Gilpin, visiting Monmouth on his Wye Tour, described the castle's decline by the end of the 18th century; "The transmutations of time are often ludicrous... formerly the palace of a king, and birth-place of a mighty prince: it is now converted into a yard for fatting ducks".[21]

Great Castle House was built in 1673, on the site of the old round tower, by Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort.[7] It is a Grade I listed building,[22] and has been described as "a house of splendid swagger outside and in".[23] It later became used for the Assize Courts, until they relocated to the new Shire Hall in 1725.[24]

Modern history

Only fragments of the castle, including the Great Tower and Hall and parts of the walls, remain above ground, and on the site Castle House and Great House have been built. In 1875, the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers Militia, the senior Army Reserve regiment today, made it their Headquarters building and so it remains. It is one of the few British castles in continuous military occupancy.[25] The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers museum is located in the stable block attached to Great Castle House. It includes exhibits relating to the history of the regiment from 1539 to the present day.[26]

The castle is a Grade I listed building[1] and a scheduled monument in the care of Cadw.[27]

Gallery

  • Architectural plan of Monmouth Castle, black and white print, from engraving, 1801
    Architectural plan of Monmouth Castle, black and white print, from engraving, 1801
  • Early lithograph by George Rowe
    Early lithograph by George Rowe
  • Ruins of the Great Tower
    Ruins of the Great Tower
  • Mediaeval window in the ruins of the Great Tower
    Mediaeval window in the ruins of the Great Tower
  • Monmouth Castle and St Mary's Priory Church, black and white print on engraving, 1800
    Monmouth Castle and St Mary's Priory Church, black and white print on engraving, 1800
  • Aerial photo of Monmouth Castle and surrounding areas from the west.
    Aerial photo of Monmouth Castle and surrounding areas from the west.

References

  1. ^
    National Historic Assets of Wales
    . Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Carpenter 2004, p. 110.
  3. ^ Lieberman 2008, p. ?.
  4. ^ Prior 2006, p. 123.
  5. ^ Newman 2000, p. 394.
  6. ^ "Monmouth", Open Domesday, King William I of England, archived from the original on 23 December 2012, retrieved 2 January 2012
  7. ^ a b c d e "Monmouth Castle". Castles Wales. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  8. ^ Salter 2002, pp. 32–33.
  9. ^ Kenyon 2010, p. 125.
  10. ^ Monnow Bridge at Structurae
  11. ^ "Monmouth Castle Ruins". The Castle and Regimental Museum. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  12. ^ Allmand 2010, p. 12952.
  13. ^ Matthews 1910, p. 236.
  14. ^ Newman 2000, p. 400.
  15. ^ Armitage 1904, facing page 168.
  16. ^ "Monmouth". Historic Landscape Characterisation. Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  17. ^ Evans 1953, p. 416.
  18. ^ ""House of Commons Journal Volume 5: 1 March 1647," in Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 5, 1646-1648". British History Online. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1802. pp. 101–102. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  19. ^ Rakoczy 2007, p. 392.
  20. ^ Whittle 1992, pp. 104–105.
  21. ^ Gilpin 2005, p. 38.
  22. National Historic Assets of Wales
    . Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  23. ^ Newman 2000, pp. 400–401.
  24. ^ Bly 2012, p. 9.
  25. ^ "Lower Wye Valley". Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  26. ^ "The Castle and Regimental Museum". Monmouth Castle Museum. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  27. National Historic Assets of Wales
    . Retrieved 24 August 2020.

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monmouth Castle.
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