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CASTLES OF CARMARTHENSHIRE

289

was a motte-and-bailey castle, of which the earthworks remain.1

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*NEWCASTLE EMLYN.-This castle does not appear to have received the name of "the new castle of Emlyn" till after Edward I.'s conquest.2 The new castle, which is quite Edwardian, was probably built on a different site to the old, as "on the other side of the bridge is a considerable mount, of a military character, which must have commanded the river. It may have been the original strong post occupied by the Normans." In the 12th century Pipe Rolls compensation is paid to William FitzGerald for many years "as long as Rhys ap Griffith holds the castle of Emlyn," which points to Gerald, the Seneschal of Pembroke, or his family, as its founders. It is on the very border of Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire, defending the main road from Carmarthen to Cardigan.

LLANEGWAD. This castle is only once mentioned, in the Brut, under the year 1203, when it was taken by the Welsh. A small motte, called locally Pen y Knap, with an earthen breastwork round the top, is still standing about a mile from the church of Llanegwad, and is all that is left of this castle. The position commands a fine view over the Towy valley, and it is noteworthy that it stands very near the supposed Roman road from Brecon to Carmarthen. [H. W.]

*LLANGADOG.This castle also does not appear till 1203; it was razed or burnt at least thrice in five years.1 A mound of earth on the banks of the Sawddwy River, near where the Roman road from Brecon is supposed to

1 See paper by Mr D. C. Evans, Arch. Camb., 1907, p. 224.

2 The first mention known to the writer is in 1285.

3 Arch. Camb., 3rd ser., v., 346.

Annales Cambriæ, 1205; Brut, 1207, 1208. The Annales call it the castle of Luchewein.

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have reached the Towy valley, is all that remains of it' Lewis says that it stands in a large oval entrenchment, and that the motte is of natural rock, scarped conically, and deeply moated.

CASTLES IN BRECKNOCKSHIRE.

BRECON, or Aberhonddu, the seat of Bernard de Neufmarché himself.-A charter of Bernard's mentions the castle.2 It seems to have been a particularly strong place, as we do not hear of its having been burnt more than once. The newer castle of Brecon is evidently of the time of Edward I., but across the road the old motte of Bernard is still standing, and carries the ruins of a shell wall, with a gatehouse tower. A portion of the bank and ditch of the bailey remains; the whole is now in a private garden. The situation is a strong one, between the Usk and the Honddu. Brecon of course was a burgus, and part of the bank which fortified it remains.

BUILTH, on the upper Wye, alias Buallt (Fig. 42).— A remarkably fine motte and bailey, presenting some peculiarities of plan. It is not mentioned till 1210,* but it has been conjectured with great probability that it was one of the castles built by Bernard de Neufmarché

1 Beauties of England and Wales, "Caermarthen," pp. 192, 309. 2 Mon. Ang., iii., 244.

3 This motte is mentioned in a charter of Roger, Earl of Hereford, Bernard's grandson, in which he confirms to the monks of St John "molendinum meum situm super Hodeni sub pede mote castelli."

1883, p. 144.

Arch. Camb

4 The dates in the Brut are now one year too early. Under 1209 it says, "Gelart seneschal of Gloucester fortified (cadarnhaaod) the castle of Builth." We can never be certain whether the word which is translated fortified, whether from the Welsh or from the Latin firmare, means built originally or rebuilt.

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CASTLES OF BRECKNOCKSHIRE

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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

The bailey
The bailey of this castle
platform, divided into two

portions of a wing wall. consists of a rather narrow 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.

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.

4 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.

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

• Round, Ancient Charters, No. 6.

Itin., v., 74.

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