- Grosmont, Monmouthshire
Grosmont ( _cy. "Rhosllwyn") is a village situated in
Monmouthshire ,Wales nearAbergavenny .History
Grosmont Castle [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/213771] is a major feature of the village and was the birthplace ofHenry, 1st Duke of Lancaster .St. Nicholas church in Grosmont [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/214216] probably has ancient origins but the tower and other parts were built by Prince Edmund (son ofHenry III of England and laterEdmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster ) for his motherEleanor of Provence (Queen Eleanor). There are circumstantial indications (Pickford, 2003) that Grosmont may have originated as anIron Age camp. The 19th centurytown hall stands as a reminder of Grosmont's earlier and greater status as a rural borough.Grosmont Castle
Grosmont Castle , along with the nearbyWhite Castle (Wales) andSkenfrith Castle , have given rise to theThree Castles Walk which links the castles and along with theMonnow Valley Walk brings visitors to the village. Grosmont is dominated by the nearbyGraig Syfyrddin (or Edmunds Tump, possibly afterEdmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster ).Owain Glyndwr
Grosmont has been linked to legends surrounding
Owain Glyndŵr and during the Glyndwr rebellion it was the site of a battle in 1405. Glyndwr's ally and trusted CaptainRhys Gethin raised a force of maybe 8,000 men that marched on Grosmont burning the town to the ground. At this time Grosmont was a large and important settlement - onlyAbergavenny andCarmarthen were larger in the whole ofSouth Wales . Prince Henry, later to become King Henry V, dispatched a force comprising men led byJohn Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury , Sir William Newport and Sir John Greynder fromHereford to intercept the Welsh force. They fell on them and defeated the Welsh, killing 800 to 1,000 men and capturing Owen ap Gruffydd ap Rhisiant, Glyndwr's Secretary and John Hanmer, Glyndwr's brother in law, who both survived the battle but were imprisoned in theTower of London .Setback
Grosmont never recovered from the attack however. Prince Henry informed his father, King Henry IV, in a letter that maybe 100 homes had been burned.
Recent Times
The Angel [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/213726]
public house in Grosmont is owned and run by a group of villagers. In the summer of 2006 the pub and village were the location for the filmThe Baker released in 2007.Further reading
*Remfry, P.M., "Grosmont Castle, 1066 to 1538" (ISBN 1-899376-44-5)
*Jackson, M.N. "Bygone Days in the March Wall of Wales" (St. Catherine's Press, 1926)
*Knight, Jeremy K. "The Three Castles" (Cadw, 2000)
*Levett, F.G. "The Story of Skenfrith, Grosmont and St. Maughan's" (1984)
*Pickford, S. "Hidden Grosmont" (2003; available from Grosmont Post Office)
*Soulsby, I. "The Towns of Medieval Wales" (Phillimore, 1983)External links
* [http://www.castlewales.com/grosmnt.html Castles of Wales]
* [http://www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/Monmouth/English/Environment_and_Planning/Countryside/Explore_the_Countryside/Publications/Available+publications.htm Monnow Valley Walk and Three Castles Walk guidebooks]
* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=3601176 photos of Grosmont castle and surrounding area on geograph]
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