- Caus Castle
Caus Castle is a
hill fort andmedieval castle in thecivil parish of Westbury in the English county ofShropshire . It is situated up on the eastern foothills of the Long Mountain guarding the route fromShrewsbury, Shropshire toMontgomery, Powys on the border betweenEngland andWales at gbmapping|SJ340076.History
The early outer earthworks of the site are probably an
Iron Age hillfort , while the latermotte-and-bailey is of Norman construction.Roger le Corbet (or Fitz Corbet) was granted several
manor s inShropshire in 1069 byWilliam the Conqueror as theBarony of Caus for his role in theNorman conquest and invasion of England. They were named after his Normandy estate in thePays de Caux . The Corbets owed fealty toRoger de Montgomery ,Earl of Shrewsbury to help controlWelsh Marches with absolute control over theirdemesne . Caus Castle was built by Roger le Corbet in the late11th century as a highmotte with a very small summit on which stood a tower and a strongly defended inner bailey.The castle was sufficiently important that the Crown took an interest in its maintenance.
Henry II of England had it garrisoned in 1165. In 1198 Roger Corbet re-built the tower, keep and curtain wall in stone. During the late12th century a town orborough was founded in the large outer Bailey. A royal grant of 50 marks was made in 1263 towards further building work, when D-shape towers were added to the curtain wall. On the death of Beatrice Corbet in 1347 Caus passed to theEarl of Stafford .Caus was garrisoned by the
Seneschal Griffith ap Ieuan ap Madoc ap Gwenwys against the rebellion ofOwain Glyndŵr in the 1400s, but following calls from Welsh graduates in law and students in theUniversity of Oxford he changed sides and supported Glyndŵr. As a result his family lands and role at Caus Castle were forfeited in 1404, only to be restored byHenry V of England in 1419 after his sons Ieuan ap Griffith andSir Gruffudd Vychan capturedJohn Oldcastle forLord Charlton of Powys .On 10 Aug. 1443, at Caus Castle
Sir Gruffudd Vychan pierced with a lance the heart of his master, Sir Christopher Talbot (1419-1443), son of the Earl of Shrewsbury, and the champion tilter of England. He was outlawed, a reward of 500 marks (£166 6s 8d) offered for his capture, and his lands were passed toJohn Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley , as the death of the young knight was not regarded as an accident. TheEarl of Stafford rarely used the castle in the 15th and 16th centuries so that it decayed, and was finally deserted after it was destroyed in 1645.References
* Barker, P.A. (1981). 'Caus Castle and Hawcocks Mount' "Archaeological Journal" Vol 138 p34
* Chitty, L. F. (1954). "Caus Castle" The Hundred-and-First Annual Meeting: Programme, CAA p19-21
* Williams G. (1998). 'Sir Gruffydd Fychan (?-1447)' "Montgomeryshire Collections" Vol 86, p17-28External links
* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=3098556 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Caus Castle and surrounding area]
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