Bronllys

Bronllys is a village in Powys, Wales between Brecon and Talgarth.

The Castle

Bronllys castle is a motte and bailey fortress standing just outside of Talgarth. The castle was founded in or soon after 1144 when the district was granted to Walter de Clifford by Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford. Walter seems to have been responsible for building the round tower on the motte for in 1165 it caught fire and a stone tumbling from the battlements killed Earl Roger's last surviving brother Mahel de Hereford. In September 1233 Walter III de Clifford had a force of over 200 men here defending the castle against his father-in-law Llywelyn ab Iorwerth. The castle passed from the Cliffords to the Giffards and eventually the de Bohun Earls of Hereford.

Owain Glyndŵr

The castle was additionally fortified against Owain Glyndŵr during the early years of his rebellion in the early 1400's.

Bedo Brwynllys

The minor Welsh bard Bedo Brwynllys lived in Bronllys in the 15th century. His poetry is characteristic of a follower or imitator of Dafydd ap Gwilym and is mainly love poetry or religious poetry and some eulogistic poems such as his elegy for Sir Richard Herbert of Coldbrook, written in 1469.

References

*Remfry, P.M., "The Castles of Breconshire" [Logaston, 1999]

External links

* [http://www.castlewales.com/bronllys.html CastleWales on Bronllys Castle]
* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2740416 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Bronllys and surrounding area]