- Ewyas Harold Castle
Ewyas Harold Castle was in the village of
Ewyas Harold which is in the Golden Valley inHerefordshire near to the Welsh border with present dayMonmouthshire , about half way between the towns ofAbergavenny andHereford (gbmapping|SO385287).Pre Norman Castle
The first
castle on this site is believed to be one of the very few which were built before theNorman conquest under theSaxons , probably in1048 [http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/1384.html Ewyas Harold Castle at "The Gatehouse" accessed May 2007] ] , on the site of an earlier fortification, possibly by Osbern Pentecost. It was amotte and bailey castle overlooking the Dulas Brook. In1052 the original castle was destroyed either on the orders of Earl Godwin or by the Welsh in a raid.Norman Refortification
Following the Norman conquest and invasion of the area the castle was rebuilt by William Fitz Osbern,
Earl of Hereford . In1086 , theDomesday Book recorded:In the jurisdiction of the castle of Ewyas Harold, Roger holds of Henry three churches and a priest and 32 acres of land and they render two sesters of honey. In the castle he has two messuages"Domesday Book: A Complete Transliteration". London: Penguin, 2003. ISBN 0-14-143994-7 p.511] .
In
1100 apriory was founded within thebailey of thecastle .Owain Glyndwr Rebellion
The castle fell into partial decay until the early
15th century . It was then in the possession ofWilliam Beauchamp ,Lord Abergavenny , who refortified it in the face of the threat fromOwain Glyndŵr . There is no record of it being attacked at this time. Owain and his various forces focused their attention on strategies and opportunities elsewhere.English Civil War
Subsequently it then fell into ruin again by
1645 .Today
Today only earthworks remain on the edge of the village to mark where it once stood [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/308216] .
References
*Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, "The David & Charles Book of Castles", David & Charles, 1980. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3
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