Third Largest Settlement You’ve Never Heard Of (In South Wales). In 1405 Grosmont was the scene of a major battle in the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr. Rhys Gethin, Glyndwr’s ally, raised a force of around 8,000 men who descended on Grosmont burning the town to the ground. At the time Grosmont was the this largest settlement in South Wales but the battle saw the burning of maybe 100 homes. Grosmont never recovered. In retaliation, a force dispatched by Prince Henry who would become Henry V, and led by John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, Sir William Newport and Sir John Greynder from Hereford, intercepted the Welsh and defeated them, killing between 800 and 1000 men. Grosmont Castle, like its sisters White Castle and Skenfrith Castle, is a Norman castle built shortly after 1066 to protect the route from Wales to Hereford.
Tag: Three Castles
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.
Why is White Castle Not White?
Near the village of Llantilio Crossenny in Monmouthshire, Wales sits the imposing 12th-century Norman fortress of White Castle. Constructed on the foundations of its predecessor which was built of wood and earth in 1066, it was intended to protect the route from Wales to Hereford. It may have been commissioned by William fitz Osbern, the Earl of Hereford.
In 1135, King Stephen responded to a Welsh revolt by bringing together White Castle and its sister fortifications of Grosmont and Skenfrith to form a lordship known as the “Three Castles”. King John gave the castle to Hubert de Burgh, in 1201. Over the next few years, it was passed from Hubert, his rival the de Braose family, and the Crown.