Tag: medieval fortification

Brilliant Place To Be A Kid! Skenfrith Castle

Skenfrith Castle

The ruin of Skenfrith Castle, or Castell Ynysgynwraidd in Welsh, sits alongside the River Monnow in Monmouthshire in Wales on the border of Herefordshire in England. It began its existence as a wooden structure with earthworks after the Normans invaded England in 1066. It was intended to protect the route between Wales and Hereford.

At the end of the 12th century, the castle was rebuilt in stone. Skenfrith Castle, like its sisters White Castle and Grosmont Castle, is a Norman castle built shortly after 1066 to protect the route from Wales to Hereford.

We really enjoyed making this film of a splendid castle in a really lovely village. Everyone should grow up with a castle as a playground.

Tretower Court and Castle

A Castle Tower AND an Intact Medieval Manor House!

The castle, a motte and bailey was founded by Picard, a follower of Bernard de Neufmarché in the 12th century. Picard’s son, Roger Picard I, replaced the motte with a shell keep. By about 1230 a tall cylindrical keep was added to the inside of the shell keep, possibly by his great-grandson, Roger Picard II. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Picards tired of loving in a cramped castle, and so the north range of Tretower Court was built. They sit in the village of Tretower, near Crickhowell in modern-day Powys, previously within the historical county of Breconshire or Brecknockshire.