History
Building of the castle began around 1240 by the Welsh lord Maredudd ap Rhys, immediately after the Emlyn cantref on the River Cych was divided between himself and Walter Marshall, the 5th Earl of Pembroke. Initially it was a timber and earth structure, but was soon rebuilt into stone one, as one of the few castles built by the Welsh at the time. It’s purpose was to serve as an administrative center rather than a defensive base, as Maredudd’s main residence was located at Dryslwyn Castle. Newcastle Emlyn was first recorded in documents in 1257, when King Henry III approved Maredudd’s agreement with Walter Marshall. Emlyn castle was called “new” to distinguish it from the older castle at Cilgerran or Cenarth.
In 1271, Emlyn passed to Maredudd’s son, Rhys ap Maredudd, who avoided involvement in the First Welsh War of Independence and was rewarded by King Edward I. Apparently, the reward did not live up to Rhys’s expectations, as he rebelled in 1287 and lost Newcastle Emlyn to Roger Mortimer, Earl of March. Rhys’s forces retook the castle, but in early 1288 it was besieged and captured by Robert Tiptoft. Siege engines drawn by as many as 60 oxen were reportedly used during these battle. Rhys ap Maredudd escaped but was captured and executed in 1291. His estates, including Emlyn, were confiscated by the Crown, and any native Welsh authority in the Deheubarth region was lost.
In the 14th century, three successive kings of England: Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III, expanded and modernized the castle. In 1312, a new great hall was built, and construction of a new twin-towered gatehouse likely began around this time. However, by the 1320s, internal conflicts caused by the rebellion against Edward II and the hatered Despenser family, followed by the devastation of the surrounding area by the plague in the mid-14th century, left the castle and town significantly depopulated. A survey from 1343 indicated that the castle was in poor condition: the great hall and kitchen were abandoned and in need of rebuilding, the gatehouse remained unfinished, and the outer bailey was said to be in ruins. The cost of repairs was estimated at a substantial £340, but in 1347 the castle was repaired by Richard de la Bere for just over £60. The work was commissioned by Black Prince Edward, son of King Edward III, after whom the castle was granted to Simon Burley in 1382.
In 1400, a Welsh rebellion broke out under the leadership of Owain Glyndŵr, who was proclaimed Prince of Wales by his countrymen. Within a few years, the uprising spread southward, and in 1403 Welsh forces approached Newcastle Emlyn. The castle was taken without a fight, while the neighboring town, whose inhabitants were largely of English descent, was likely sacked. However, the area was quickly recaptured by Sir Thomas Carew within two weeks. After taking the castle, he provided supplies and reinforcements for the garrison, ensuring that the building remained in English hands until the end of the uprising. The damages inflicted on the castle during the fights cannot have been significant, but a report from 1428 described it as already ruined, more due to long-term neglect than deliberate destruction.
At the end of the 15th century, the rise of the Tudors, a dynasty of Welsh origin, brought about a pacification of the tense relations between the two nations, while simultaneously leading to the loss of military significance for most Welsh castles. The decaying Newcastle Emlyn was acquired in the early 16th century by the nobleman Sir Rhys ap Thomas, who transformed the castle into one of his residences, including piercing the old buildings with large, rectangular windows. A 1532 survey recorded a hall with a chapel on the first floor, an adjacent kitchen above the pantry, and a south tower with a commanding view.
During the English Civil War, the castle was originally a Royalist stronghold, so to enhance its defenses, an early modern artillery bastion was built in front of the gatehouse. Despite this, the castle changed hands several times. In 1644, it was captured by Parliamentary forces and then quickly recaptured by Royalists under Sir Charles Gerard. The Parliamentarians besieged it again in 1645, but to no avail. Only when all of Wales was under Parliamentary control was Newcastle Emlyn also captured and razed to the ground to prevent further military use.
Architecture
The castle was built on a narrow, elongated peninsula, formed by one of the narrow bends of the Afon Teifi River. This location ensured that the structure was surrounded by the river’s waters on three sides, with the northern and southern slopes dropping quite steeply towards the Teifi riverbed. The only convenient access road was from the west. There, a transverse moat was dug for protection, in front of which a settlement developed, and later a small town, benefiting from location near a bridge crossing over the river. Its buildings were clustered around a triangular market square at the crossroads of the main trail and the road to the castle.
Due to the natural topography, the castle core was polygonal in plan, with a shape similar to a triangle, narrowing towards the east, enclosing a courtyard with maximum dimensions of approximately 35 x 25 meters. The gate was located on the western side. Since the mid-14th century, it consisted of two elongated polygonal towers flanking the passage between them. To the south of the gate stood a corner polygonal tower. The main part of the castle was surrounded by an outer defensive wall, enclosing a spacious outer bailey. The outer gate was located on the west side, while a side postern was on the southeast side.
The 14th-century gate measured approximately 16.8 x 11.5 meters. The gateway was likely sparsely protected by only two sets of gates, with no trace of a portcullis or drawbridge. Beneath the northern tower was a vaulted cellar, probably used as a prison cell. Above it was a guard’s room, and higher, a large chamber, possibly residential. At least from the first half of the 16th century, the southern tower’s ground floor was divided into two rooms, above which was also a spacious chamber. The upper floor of the gatehouse was accessible via an external staircase along the eastern wall, next to the northern tower. This staircase may also have provided access to the wall-walk. Latrines were located on both sides of the gatehouse towers.
The castle’s residential and utility buildings in the first half of the 16th century occupied primarily the southern part of the courtyard, slightly convex due to the curve of the defensive wall. Adjacent to the southwestern corner tower was a rectangular building housing a great hall, its longer axis aligned east-west. Its ground floor was occupied by a utility room serving as a pantry, while the first floor housed a hall measuring 13.7 x 7 meters. Adjacent to the building on the east was a smaller house measuring 7.9 x 6.4 meters, with a utility ground floor and thirteen steps leading to the hall. Above the stairs, a chapel was to be located, rather in the great hall building than in the eastern house, as the kitchen was also to be located on the upper floor of the latter. Another two-story building, measuring 10.7 x 9.1 meters, was to occupy the eastern end of the courtyard.
The spacious outer bailey, formed by the outer wall, was occupied by economic buildings including a watermill, located on the north side at the river. At the beginning of the second quarter of the 16th century, there was also a hay warehouse measuring 18.2 x 5.5 meters, a slaughterhouse measuring just under 11 meters long, and a bakery and brewery measuring 12.8 x 6.4 meters, with an additional room above them on the upper floor. Closer to the gate were to be 36.6-meter-long stables, with stalls for 22 horses on the ground floor and an oblong room on the upper floor.
Current state
Only modest remnants of the castle walls have survived to this day, the most impressive of which is the lower section of the two-towered gatehouse of the upper ward and its western façade, which reaches up to the first floor. Unfortunately, it has been partially disfigured by large window openings. Two fragments of the southwestern tower’s wall can be seen nearby. The ruins are open to the public free of charge.
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