History
Crickhowell Castle was built at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries by Bernard de Neufmarche or one of his vassals, Robert Turberville. At the time, it was still a wooden motte and bailey structure. At the beginning of the 12th century, the castle certainly belonged to the Turberville family, in which possession remained for the next 150 years.
Around 1270, Hugh de Turberville rebuilt the fortress into a stone one (in 1281, the townspeople were granted murage licence), but he was the last member of the family, and when he died in 1293 leaving no male heir, the castle passed into the hands of Sir Grimbald Pauncefote, who married Hugh’s daughter, Sybil. After him, castle became the property of Earl Roger Mortimer, who appointed Garard Alisby as the constable of the stronghold. From his name, the stronghold received an alternative name, Alisby Castle.
In 1402 it was returned to the Pauncefote family, and the then owner, Sir John Pauncefoot, received a royal order to restore Crickhowell’s defenses in the face of Owain Glyndŵr’s rebellion. John Pauncefoot’s efforts proved inadequate because the castle was captured and sacked by rebels in 1403. The rebellion was finally pacified, but the castle never regained its former splendor. It went through various owners, but fell into ruin and was mostly pulled down to obtain building materials.
Architecture
Crickhowell Castle was built on a low hill within the River Usk valley, on the northern side of its bed and near the Cwmbeth stream that flows into it. By the late 13th century, it consisted of a shell keep, built on an earthen mound approximately 15 meters high and measuring 24 x 15 meters in plan, and a large outer bailey on the southern side. Both parts adjoined the settlement and later the town to the west, likely unprotected by its own fortifications despite obtaining a murage grant.
Presumably before the mid-14th century, the keep was supplemented by a small gatehouse situated in line with the defensive wall. In addition, a twin-towered gatehouse was built below the mound on the southern side, connecting the outer bailey with the keep. It was equipped with a drawbridge spanning a pit dug between the towers flanking the passage, each approximately 6 meters in diameter. It contained three battlemented stories, the upper two containing rooms heated by fireplaces.
The outer bailey occupied an area measuring approximately 90 x 65 meters. By the end of the 13th century or in the 14th century, it was surrounded by a defensive wall, reinforced by at least two cylindrical towers and a set of two connected towers: one cylindrical with a diameter of approximately 8 meters and one irregular quadrangular (trapezoidal) measuring 10 x 5.6 meters, located in the eastern part of the perimeter. The complex of connected towers likely served a residential function in addition to defense, as evidenced by the larger Gothic windows and fireplace on the first floor. They may also have protected the eastern postern or gate. The main entrance to the outer bailey, located from the town side, was possible through a gate placed in the western part of the perimeter, probably consisting of two towers flanking the passage between them.
Current state
Currently, the main remnant of the castle is a fragment of a two-tower complex, consisting of one (northern) wall and a fragment of the other (eastern) wall of the four-sided tower and about half of the cylindrical tower. In addition, you can find relics of the twin-tower gatehouse connecting the outer bailey with the keep, there is also an earth mound on which the keep was standing. Entrance to the ruins area is free.
bibliography:
Haslam R., The buildings of Wales. Powys (Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Breconshire), London 1979.
Kenyon J., The medieval castles of Wales, Cardiff 2010.
Lindsay E., The castles of Wales, London 1998.
Pettifer A., Welsh castles, Woodbridge 2000.
Salter M., The castles of Mid Wales, Malvern 2001.