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CASTLES OF BRECKNOCKSHIRE

291

when he conquered Brecknock.' It was refortified by John Mortimer in 1242,2 probably in stone, as in the account of its destruction by Llywelyn in 1260 it is said that "not one stone was left on another." Nevertheless when Edward I. rebuilt it the towers on the outer wall appear to have been of wood. Mr Clark states that there are traces of masonry foundations and small portions of a wing wall. The bailey of this castle consists of a rather narrow platform, divided into two unequal portions by a cross ditch which connects the ditch of the motte with that of the bailey. The ditch. round the motte is of unusual breadth, being 120 feet broad in the widest part. The whole work is encircled by an outer ditch of varying breadth, being 100 feet wide on the weakest side of the work, and by a counterscarp bank which appears to be still perfect. The entrance is defended by four small mounds which probably cover the remains of towers. The area of the two baileys together is only 1 acre. [D. H. M.] *HAY, or Tregelli. The earliest mention of this castle is in a charter of Henry I. The present castle of Hay is of late date, but Leland tells us that "not far from the Paroche Chirch is a great round Hille of Yerth cast up by Men's Hondes."7 It is shown on the 25-inch O.M., and so is the line of the borough walls.

5

1 Beauties of England and Wales, "Brecknockshire," p. 153.

2 Brut, in anno. The Mortimers were the heirs of the De Braoses and the Neufmarchés.

3 Annales Cambria, 1260. This may, however, be merely a figure of speech.

↑ Order to cause Roger Mortimer, so soon as the castle of Built shall be closed with a wall, whereby it will be necessary to remove the bretasches, to have the best bretasche of the king's gift. Cal. of Close Rolls, Ed. I., i., 527.

5 See Clark, M. M. A., i., 307.

• Round, Ancient Charters, No. 6.

Itin., v., 74.

*TALGARTH.-Mentioned in a charter of Roger, Earl of Hereford, not later than 1156.1 A 13th-century tower on a small motte is still standing, and can be seen from the railway between Brecon and Hereford.

66

CASTLES OF RADNORSHIRE.

RADNOR, or Maes Hyvaidd.-Though this castle is not mentioned in the Brut till 1196, when it was burnt by Rhys ap Griffith, it must have been built by the Normans at a very early period. The English had penetrated into the Radnor district even before the Norman Conquest, and the Normans were not slow to follow them. A charter of Philip de Braose is granted at Raddenoam" not later than 1096.3 There are mottes both at Old and New Radnor, towns three miles distant from each other, so that it is impossible to say which was the Maes Hyvaidd of the Brut. Both may have been originally De Braose castles, but New Radnor evidently became the more important place, and has massive remains in masonry. The town was a burgus.

*GEMARON, or Cwm Aron (Fig. 42).-Near LlandewiYstrad-denny. The Brut mentions its repair by Hugh Mortimer in 1145. The 6-inch O.M. shows a square central bailey of 1 acre, containing some remains of masonry, lying between an oblong motte in the S. and an outer enclosure on the N., the whole being further defended by a high counterscarp bank on the W. It

1 Arch. Camb., N. S., v., 23-28.

2 "Wales and the Coming of the Normans," by Professor Lloyd, in Cymmrodorion Transactions, 1899.

3 Marchegay, Chartes du Prieurie de Monmouth, cited by Professor Lloyd, as above.

4 Brut, 1143.

CASTLES OF RADNORSHIRE

commands a ford over the river Aran.

village attached to it.

293

There is no

*MAUD'S CASTLE, otherwise Colwyn or Clun.'-A ditched motte with square bailey on the left bank of the river Edwy, near the village of Forest Colwyn. The statement that this castle was repaired in 1145 shows that it must have been older than the time of Maude de Braose, from whom it is generally supposed to have taken its name. It was rebuilt by Henry III. in 1231.2

*PAYN'S CASTLE, otherwise "the castle of Elvael.' -First mentioned in 1196, when it was taken by Rhys ap Griffith. This is also a motte-castle (and an exceptionally fine one), placed on a road leading from Kington in Hereford to Builth. Rebuilt in stone by Henry III. in 1231.3 (Fig. 42.)

*KNIGHTON, in Welsh Trefclawdd.-First mentioned in the Pipe Roll of 1181. The motte still remains, near the church. There is another motte just outside the village, called Bryn y Castell. It may be a siege castle.

*NORTON.-First mentioned in the Pipe Roll of 1191. A motte remains close to the church, and two sides of a bailey which ran down to the Norton brook.

*BLEDDFA, the Bledewach of the Pipe Roll of 11951196, when £5 was given to Hugh de Saye ad firmandum castellum, an expression which may mean either building or repairing. An oval motte, and traces of a bailey, are marked in the 6-inch O.M.

TYNBOETH, alias Dyneneboth, Tinbech, and Llan

1 Not to be confounded with the castle of Clun in Shropshire.

2 Annales Cambriæ and Annales de Margam. See plan in Arch. Camb., 4th ser., vi., 251.

3 Annales Cambria.

4 Really Ty-yn-yr Bwlch, the house in the pass. Not to be confounded with Tenby in Pembrokeshire.

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