Skenfrith Castle
Encyclopedia
Skenfrith Castle is a medieval castle
located in Monmouthshire
, Wales
. The castle is in the centre of the village of Skenfrith
, located on the banks of the River Monnow
, just five miles to the north of the town of Monmouth
. The first defences were built shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066, although the remains of the castle that stand today date from the early thirteenth century.
Grouped with White Castle
and Grosmont Castle
, Skenfrith is one of the “Three Castles” or Trilateral Castles built in the Monnow Valley as part of the Norman conquest of South Wales.
and Monmouth
in medieval times, due to its position as an area of relatively open land, which provided a break between the river cliffs of the Wye Valley
to the south, and the hills around Abergavenny
to the west. The Three Castles are usually grouped together by historians because for almost their entire history they were part of a block of territory under the control of a single lord.
All three sites have evidence for early Norman
earthworks
, possibly built by William fitz Osbern
, who was made Earl of Hereford by William the Conqueror a few months after the Norman Conquest of England
in 1066. From his castles at Monmouth
and Chepstow
, William was the first Norman lord to conquer central and eastern Monmouthshire, including the future sites for the Three Castles. The defences raised at this time would probably have been of earth and timber.
Fitz Osbern died in 1071, and his lands were forfeited to the crown after his son Roger de Breteuil was involved in a rebellion against King William in 1075. Later the king divided up this strategically important territory – the only time in their active history that the Three Castles were owned separately. They were reunited by King Stephen
in the late 1130’s as a response to Welsh rebellion in the southern March
, and would remain a single lordship until the nineteenth century.
There is little evidence of building activity at any of the castles until the late twelfth century, when they were fortified by Ralph of Grosmont, a royal official who supervised building work for the king in Hereford. The castles were then completely overhauled by Hubert de Burgh
, who was granted lordship of the Three Castles by King John
in 1201. Control of the Three Castles was briefly granted to William de Braose
in 1205, when Hubert was a prisoner of Philip Augustus
, the king of France
, but William quickly fell out of favour, and by 1207 John had forced him into ruin. Hubert de Burgh returned to power, and was appointed Justiciar
in 1215.
From his time fighting in France Hubert had a knowledge of the latest in military architecture, and in the years after 1219 he was a prosperous lord who had great influence with King Henry III. He rebuilt Skenfrith Castle between 1219 and 1223 and Grosmont Castle between 1224 and 1226 in stone, adding domestic apartments to both castles, so that they could be used as lordly residences. He held the Three Castles until 1239, although they were briefly taken from him after he fell out of royal favour in 1232 (they were returned after his reconciliation to the king two years later).
After Hubert de Burgh, the Three Castles were held in royal hands, and in 1254 Henry III granted them to his eldest son, the future Edward I
. In the 1260’s the southern March was threatened by the Welsh Prince Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, who annexed the lordship of Brecon, and attacked nearby Abergavenny. Gilbert Talbot was appointed constable of the Three Castles, and ordered to garrison them ‘at whatever cost’. Although Llewelyn’s attack on Abergavenny failed, the Treaty of Montgomery
in 1267 recognized his southern conquests, and he was considered a significant threat.
1267 saw the Three Castles being granted to Edward’s younger brother Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. Although the Welsh threat was soon subdued with the death of Llywelyn in 1282, the Three Castles were used as residences and centres for local authority. The castles passed down through the earls of Lancaster until the death of Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster, whose daughter Blanche
married John of Gaunt
, son of Edward III
. John of Gaunt was made Duke of Lancaster in 1364, and the Three Castles would remain part of the duchy of Lancaster until 1825. John and Blanche’s son, Henry of Bolingbroke
, deposed Richard II
in 1399 and became King Henry IV
, at which time the Three Castles also became royal possessions once more.
Although the Three Castles briefly saw action during the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr
in 1404-05, they never again played a major role in military affairs. Henry VI
carried out repairs to White Castle and Skenfrith Castle in the mid fifteenth century, but by 1538 the castles were abandoned, and ruinous.
In 1825 the duchy of Lancaster sold the castles to the duke of Beaufort
, whose estate divided them and sold each to different local landowners in 1902. White Castle was given to the State in 1922, followed by Grosmont in 1923. Skenfrith passed through several hands before being given to the National Trust
. All three castles are now conserved and maintained by Cadw
, and are open to the public.
Ralph of Grosmont is recorded as having spent 43 pounds
on Skenfrith Castle in the Pipe Roll
of 1186–87. In the same excavation that discovered the early Norman defensive ditch, a twelfth-century stone wall was found, which suggests that Ralph was building in stone. A well carved decorative capital
of red sandstone from the same period suggests a building of high quality, possibly a keep
or hall
. The location of the stonework, close to the early earthen defences of the castle, suggests that a such a keep or hall would have stood alongside the perimeter of the castle, just as is the case of the hall at Grosmont castle, which was built in the same period.
Hubert de Burgh leveled these early defences, and no visible trace of them can be found. His new castle was built in the style of a concentric castle
(which was quite cutting-edge for the time), albeit on a very modest scale. The castle consisted of a round keep
with three floors, surrounded by a curtain wall with a round tower at each corner. Around the wall would have been a moat
with a stone revetment, as seen at White Castle. The moat was filled with water from a connection to the River Monnow
, which passes just to the eastern side of the castle. The entrance to the castle was in the northern wall – today it is simply a gap, but an engraving by the Buck brothers in 1732 shows the remains of a simple arch of stone in the center of the wall. Along the eastern wall a flight of steps leads down to a lower archway which probably served as a water gate, giving access to the moat. Next to the south-east corner tower is a blocked archway which may have been a postern gate to the rear of the castle.
The curtain walls have a sloping batter (the wall slopes down to be thicker at the base than along the top) for extra defence, and would have included a wall walk all the way around the inner edge. Support holes in the curtain wall, just below the level of the wall walk, were to support a timber hourding, or fighting gallery, which projected out from the wall and protected the defenders atop the wall. Each corner tower was built with a solid circular basement
, presumably accessed by a wooden ladder from the upper levels. The towers would have been entered on the first floor via a wooden staircase from the outside. There were no windows, just arrowslits, suggesting that the towers were purely for defence, not residence.
Within the bailey
there was a two-story hall block running along the inside of the western wall. The ground level was filled in with gravel in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, when the level of the castle’s interior was raised in an effort to combat winter flooding. A later room was added along the northern wall, forming these buildings into an ‘L’ shaped block. Given this room’s size and east-west orientation, this may have been the castle chapel. The upper floor was divided into three rooms, and the fine quality fireplaces and stonework suggests domestic apartments, and possibly a Great Hall. On the southern end of this block of buildings was a square tank which was the castle reservoir.
Across the bailey, along the eastern wall between the south-east tower and the water gate would have been the kitchens. The lightly built foundations suggest that the buildings were timber, built up against the curtain wall, with stone fireplaces, hearths, and ovens.
The main residence for the lord of the castle would have been in the round tower-keep which sits at the middle of the inner bailey. Entrance to the keep would have been, like the corner towers, through a doorway above the ground level, reached by a wooden stairway from the bailey. The bottom level is again a basement, while the upper two floors would have contained apartments. A turret projects from the western side of the keep, this would have held the spiral staircase that gave access to the upper levels. The well-appointed apartments included large windows, hooded fireplaces, and a private latrine. The keep was topped by a circular wooden hourding, similar to the one that surmounted the curtain wall.
Very little alteration has been made to the castle over the centuries. The level of the castle was raised, as was mentioned earlier, and at some point earth was piled around the bottom of the keep, giving it the impression of being set atop a mound. A door was also cut into the keep at ground level, bypassing the first floor entrance. Along the western wall, an external tower was added. This tower is solid to the level of the wall walk, and was probably added in the thirteenth century.
, and is an open site, which may be visited free of charge at any reasonable time of day. The moat has been filled in, and the castle is now surrounded by a grassy lawn in the centre of the small village of Skenfrith
. Three of the four corner towers still stand, as does its curtain wall
up to the level of the wall walk. The round keep is intact, and the foundations of the hall block along the western wall have been excavated as well.
episode "Amy's Choice
" as a ruined castle in the fictional village of Leadworth.
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
located in Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. The castle is in the centre of the village of Skenfrith
Skenfrith
Skenfrith is a small village in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales, in the United Kingdom. It is located on the River Monnow, close to the border between Wales and England, about 6 miles north-west of Monmouth.- History and amenities :...
, located on the banks of the River Monnow
River Monnow
The River Monnow flows through south-west Herefordshire, England and eastern Monmouthshire, Wales.- Border River :For much of its short length it marks the border between England and Wales before it joins the River Wye at Monmouth. The Wye is also half English from Monmouth until it meets the...
, just five miles to the north of the town of Monmouth
Monmouth
Monmouth is a town in southeast Wales and traditional county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is situated close to the border with England, where the River Monnow meets the River Wye with bridges over both....
. The first defences were built shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066, although the remains of the castle that stand today date from the early thirteenth century.
Grouped with White Castle
White Castle (Wales)
White Castle is a medieval castle located in Monmouthshire, Wales. The name "White Castle" was first recorded in the thirteenth century, and was derived from the whitewash put on the stone walls. The castle was originally called Llantilio Castle , after Llantilio Crossenny, the mediæval manor of...
and Grosmont Castle
Grosmont Castle
Grosmont Castle is a ruined castle in Grosmont, Monmouthshire very near the present English / Welsh border, approximately 8 miles northeast of Abergavenny, between Abergavenny, Hereford and Monmouth.-Grosmont Castle:...
, Skenfrith is one of the “Three Castles” or Trilateral Castles built in the Monnow Valley as part of the Norman conquest of South Wales.
History of “The Three Castles”
The Monnow Valley was an important route between HerefordHereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
and Monmouth
Monmouth
Monmouth is a town in southeast Wales and traditional county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is situated close to the border with England, where the River Monnow meets the River Wye with bridges over both....
in medieval times, due to its position as an area of relatively open land, which provided a break between the river cliffs of the Wye Valley
River Wye
The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK and for parts of its length forms part of the border between England and Wales. It is important for nature conservation and recreation.-Description:...
to the south, and the hills around Abergavenny
Abergavenny
Abergavenny , meaning Mouth of the River Gavenny, is a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located 15 miles west of Monmouth on the A40 and A465 roads, 6 miles from the English border. Originally the site of a Roman fort, Gobannium, it became a medieval walled town within the Welsh Marches...
to the west. The Three Castles are usually grouped together by historians because for almost their entire history they were part of a block of territory under the control of a single lord.
All three sites have evidence for early Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
earthworks
Earthworks (engineering)
Earthworks are engineering works created through the moving or processing of quantities of soil or unformed rock.- Civil engineering use :Typical earthworks include roads, railway beds, causeways, dams, levees, canals, and berms...
, possibly built by William fitz Osbern
William Fitzosbern, 1st Earl of Hereford
William FitzOsbern , Lord of Breteuil, in Normandy, was a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror and one of the great magnates of early Norman England...
, who was made Earl of Hereford by William the Conqueror a few months after the Norman Conquest of England
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
in 1066. From his castles at Monmouth
Monmouth
Monmouth is a town in southeast Wales and traditional county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is situated close to the border with England, where the River Monnow meets the River Wye with bridges over both....
and Chepstow
Chepstow Castle
Chepstow Castle , located in Chepstow, Monmouthshire in Wales, on top of cliffs overlooking the River Wye, is the oldest surviving post-Roman stone fortification in Britain...
, William was the first Norman lord to conquer central and eastern Monmouthshire, including the future sites for the Three Castles. The defences raised at this time would probably have been of earth and timber.
Fitz Osbern died in 1071, and his lands were forfeited to the crown after his son Roger de Breteuil was involved in a rebellion against King William in 1075. Later the king divided up this strategically important territory – the only time in their active history that the Three Castles were owned separately. They were reunited by King Stephen
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
in the late 1130’s as a response to Welsh rebellion in the southern March
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches is a term which, in modern usage, denotes an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods...
, and would remain a single lordship until the nineteenth century.
There is little evidence of building activity at any of the castles until the late twelfth century, when they were fortified by Ralph of Grosmont, a royal official who supervised building work for the king in Hereford. The castles were then completely overhauled by Hubert de Burgh
Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent
Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent was Earl of Kent, Justiciar of England and Ireland, and one of the most influential men in England during the reigns of John and Henry III.-Birth and family:...
, who was granted lordship of the Three Castles by King John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
in 1201. Control of the Three Castles was briefly granted to William de Braose
William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber
William de Braose, , 4th Lord of Bramber , court favourite of King John of England, at the peak of his power, was also Lord of Gower, Abergavenny, Brecknock, Builth, Radnor, Kington, Limerick, Glamorgan, Skenfrith, Briouze in Normandy, Grosmont, and White Castle.-Lineage:William was the most...
in 1205, when Hubert was a prisoner of Philip Augustus
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
, the king of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, but William quickly fell out of favour, and by 1207 John had forced him into ruin. Hubert de Burgh returned to power, and was appointed Justiciar
Justiciar
In medieval England and Ireland the Chief Justiciar was roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister as the monarch's chief minister. Similar positions existed on the Continent, particularly in Norman Italy. The term is the English form of the medieval Latin justiciarius or justitiarius In...
in 1215.
From his time fighting in France Hubert had a knowledge of the latest in military architecture, and in the years after 1219 he was a prosperous lord who had great influence with King Henry III. He rebuilt Skenfrith Castle between 1219 and 1223 and Grosmont Castle between 1224 and 1226 in stone, adding domestic apartments to both castles, so that they could be used as lordly residences. He held the Three Castles until 1239, although they were briefly taken from him after he fell out of royal favour in 1232 (they were returned after his reconciliation to the king two years later).
After Hubert de Burgh, the Three Castles were held in royal hands, and in 1254 Henry III granted them to his eldest son, the future Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
. In the 1260’s the southern March was threatened by the Welsh Prince Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, who annexed the lordship of Brecon, and attacked nearby Abergavenny. Gilbert Talbot was appointed constable of the Three Castles, and ordered to garrison them ‘at whatever cost’. Although Llewelyn’s attack on Abergavenny failed, the Treaty of Montgomery
Treaty of Montgomery
By means of the Treaty of Montgomery , Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was acknowledged as Prince of Wales by the English king Henry III, the only time in history that an English ruler would recognise the right of a ruler of Gwynedd over Wales...
in 1267 recognized his southern conquests, and he was considered a significant threat.
1267 saw the Three Castles being granted to Edward’s younger brother Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. Although the Welsh threat was soon subdued with the death of Llywelyn in 1282, the Three Castles were used as residences and centres for local authority. The castles passed down through the earls of Lancaster until the death of Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster, whose daughter Blanche
Blanche of Lancaster
Blanche of Lancaster, Duchess of Lancaster was an English noblewoman and heiress, daughter of England's wealthiest and most powerful peer, Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster...
married John of Gaunt
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster , KG was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault...
, son of Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
. John of Gaunt was made Duke of Lancaster in 1364, and the Three Castles would remain part of the duchy of Lancaster until 1825. John and Blanche’s son, Henry of Bolingbroke
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
, deposed Richard II
Richard II of England
Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
in 1399 and became King Henry IV
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
, at which time the Three Castles also became royal possessions once more.
Although the Three Castles briefly saw action during the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr
Owain Glyndwr
Owain Glyndŵr , or Owain Glyn Dŵr, anglicised by William Shakespeare as Owen Glendower , was a Welsh ruler and the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales...
in 1404-05, they never again played a major role in military affairs. Henry VI
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
carried out repairs to White Castle and Skenfrith Castle in the mid fifteenth century, but by 1538 the castles were abandoned, and ruinous.
In 1825 the duchy of Lancaster sold the castles to the duke of Beaufort
Duke of Beaufort
Duke of Beaufort is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, illegitimate son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, a Lancastrian leader in the Wars of the...
, whose estate divided them and sold each to different local landowners in 1902. White Castle was given to the State in 1922, followed by Grosmont in 1923. Skenfrith passed through several hands before being given to the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
. All three castles are now conserved and maintained by Cadw
Cadw
-Conservation and Protection:Many of Wales's great castles and other monuments, such as bishop's palaces, historic houses, and ruined abbeys, are now in Cadw's care. Cadw does not own them but is responsible for their upkeep and for making them accessible to the public...
, and are open to the public.
Building of Skenfrith Castle
The remains of the castle as it stands today date entirely from Hubert de Burgh’s work, when he totally rebuilt the castle between 1219–23. Excavation has shown that the castle sits on an artificial gravel platform, up to twelve-feet thick. Evidence suggests that a defensive ditch would have surrounded the site, with timber walls. This early castle probably dates back to just after the Norman Conquest.Ralph of Grosmont is recorded as having spent 43 pounds
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
on Skenfrith Castle in the Pipe Roll
Pipe Rolls
The Pipe rolls, sometimes called the Great rolls, are a collection of financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, or Treasury. The earliest date from the 12th century, and the series extends, mostly complete, from then until 1833. They form the oldest continuous series of records kept by...
of 1186–87. In the same excavation that discovered the early Norman defensive ditch, a twelfth-century stone wall was found, which suggests that Ralph was building in stone. A well carved decorative capital
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
of red sandstone from the same period suggests a building of high quality, possibly a keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
or hall
Great hall
A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, nobleman's castle or a large manor house in the Middle Ages, and in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries. At that time the word great simply meant big, and had not acquired its modern connotations of excellence...
. The location of the stonework, close to the early earthen defences of the castle, suggests that a such a keep or hall would have stood alongside the perimeter of the castle, just as is the case of the hall at Grosmont castle, which was built in the same period.
Hubert de Burgh leveled these early defences, and no visible trace of them can be found. His new castle was built in the style of a concentric castle
Concentric castle
A concentric castle is a castle with two or more concentric curtain walls, such that the outer wall is lower than the inner and can be defended from it. The word concentric does not imply that these castles were circular; in fact if taken too literally the term "concentric" is quite misleading...
(which was quite cutting-edge for the time), albeit on a very modest scale. The castle consisted of a round keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
with three floors, surrounded by a curtain wall with a round tower at each corner. Around the wall would have been a moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
with a stone revetment, as seen at White Castle. The moat was filled with water from a connection to the River Monnow
River Monnow
The River Monnow flows through south-west Herefordshire, England and eastern Monmouthshire, Wales.- Border River :For much of its short length it marks the border between England and Wales before it joins the River Wye at Monmouth. The Wye is also half English from Monmouth until it meets the...
, which passes just to the eastern side of the castle. The entrance to the castle was in the northern wall – today it is simply a gap, but an engraving by the Buck brothers in 1732 shows the remains of a simple arch of stone in the center of the wall. Along the eastern wall a flight of steps leads down to a lower archway which probably served as a water gate, giving access to the moat. Next to the south-east corner tower is a blocked archway which may have been a postern gate to the rear of the castle.
The curtain walls have a sloping batter (the wall slopes down to be thicker at the base than along the top) for extra defence, and would have included a wall walk all the way around the inner edge. Support holes in the curtain wall, just below the level of the wall walk, were to support a timber hourding, or fighting gallery, which projected out from the wall and protected the defenders atop the wall. Each corner tower was built with a solid circular basement
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
, presumably accessed by a wooden ladder from the upper levels. The towers would have been entered on the first floor via a wooden staircase from the outside. There were no windows, just arrowslits, suggesting that the towers were purely for defence, not residence.
Within the bailey
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...
there was a two-story hall block running along the inside of the western wall. The ground level was filled in with gravel in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, when the level of the castle’s interior was raised in an effort to combat winter flooding. A later room was added along the northern wall, forming these buildings into an ‘L’ shaped block. Given this room’s size and east-west orientation, this may have been the castle chapel. The upper floor was divided into three rooms, and the fine quality fireplaces and stonework suggests domestic apartments, and possibly a Great Hall. On the southern end of this block of buildings was a square tank which was the castle reservoir.
Across the bailey, along the eastern wall between the south-east tower and the water gate would have been the kitchens. The lightly built foundations suggest that the buildings were timber, built up against the curtain wall, with stone fireplaces, hearths, and ovens.
The main residence for the lord of the castle would have been in the round tower-keep which sits at the middle of the inner bailey. Entrance to the keep would have been, like the corner towers, through a doorway above the ground level, reached by a wooden stairway from the bailey. The bottom level is again a basement, while the upper two floors would have contained apartments. A turret projects from the western side of the keep, this would have held the spiral staircase that gave access to the upper levels. The well-appointed apartments included large windows, hooded fireplaces, and a private latrine. The keep was topped by a circular wooden hourding, similar to the one that surmounted the curtain wall.
Very little alteration has been made to the castle over the centuries. The level of the castle was raised, as was mentioned earlier, and at some point earth was piled around the bottom of the keep, giving it the impression of being set atop a mound. A door was also cut into the keep at ground level, bypassing the first floor entrance. Along the western wall, an external tower was added. This tower is solid to the level of the wall walk, and was probably added in the thirteenth century.
Visiting the Castle
Skenfrith is located on the B4521, five miles north of MonmouthMonmouth
Monmouth is a town in southeast Wales and traditional county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is situated close to the border with England, where the River Monnow meets the River Wye with bridges over both....
, and is an open site, which may be visited free of charge at any reasonable time of day. The moat has been filled in, and the castle is now surrounded by a grassy lawn in the centre of the small village of Skenfrith
Skenfrith
Skenfrith is a small village in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales, in the United Kingdom. It is located on the River Monnow, close to the border between Wales and England, about 6 miles north-west of Monmouth.- History and amenities :...
. Three of the four corner towers still stand, as does its curtain wall
Curtain wall
A curtain wall is an outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural, but merely keep out the weather. As the curtain wall is non-structural it can be made of a lightweight material reducing construction costs. When glass is used as the curtain wall, a great advantage is...
up to the level of the wall walk. The round keep is intact, and the foundations of the hall block along the western wall have been excavated as well.
Skenfrith in media
Skenfrith Castle features in the 2010 Doctor WhoDoctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
episode "Amy's Choice
Amy's Choice (Doctor Who)
"Amy's Choice" is the seventh episode in the fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One on 15 May 2010...
" as a ruined castle in the fictional village of Leadworth.
See also
- Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
- List of castles in England
- Three Castles WalkThree Castles WalkThe Three Castles Walk is a waymarked long distance footpath and recreational walk in in north-east Monmouthshire, Wales.-Route:The route links Skenfrith Castle Grosmont Castle and White Castle It follows woods and hills and takes the walker over Graig Syfyrddin , from which there are views of...
Sources
- Davies, R.R. Lordship and Society in the March of Wales 1282-1400 (Oxford, 1978)
- Davies, R.R. Conquest, Coexistence and Change: Wales 1063-1415 (Oxford, 1987); reprinted in paperback as, The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063-1415 (Oxford 1991)
- Knight, Jeremy K. “The Road to Harlech: Aspects of Some Early Thirteenth-Century Welsh Castles”, in J.R. Kenyon and R. Avent, eds. Castles in Wales and the Marches (Cardiff, 1987), pp. 75-88
- Knight, Jeremy K. The Three Castles (Cadw, 2000)
- Renn, D.F. “Round Keeps of the Brecon Region”, Archaeologica Cambrensis, 110 (1961), pp. 129-43
- Roderick, A.J. and Rees, W., “The Lordships of Abergavenny, Grosmont, Skenfrith and White Castle: Accounts of the Ministers for the year 1256-57”, South Wales and Monmouth Record Society Publications, 2 (1953), pp. 68-125; 3 (1954), pp. 22-47
- Remfry, P.M., "Skenfrith Castle and the families of Fitz Osbern, Ballon, Fitz Count, Burgh, Braose and Plantagenet of Grosmont" (2008, ISBN 1-899376-70-4)