Crickhowell Castle

Crickhowell Castle stands on a spur where a tributary stream meets the River Usk, above the rest of the town. The remaining walls and motte form a ruined Grade I listed building, with an oval motte still clearly visible. Nearby St Mary’s Chapel, dating from around 1300, has been linked by some historians to the castle’s earlier motte-and-bailey structure. Traces of the castle bailey have been found in a nearby playing field, showing how the town grew around it. The foundations of the shell keep lie buried, while the double tower on Castle Green is the most visible remnant. The castle began as a motte and bailey built around 1121, probably by Robert Turberville, a Norman tenant of Bernard de Neufmarché. Welsh rebels led by Seisyllt ap Rhirid attacked it in 1172, and later members of the Turberville family held it. Hugh Turberville trained Welsh men-at-arms for King Edward I and fought against Rhys ap Maredudd before dying in 1293. The castle was rebuilt in stone from 1242 after Sybil Turberville married Sir Grimbold Pauncefote. It passed to the Mortimer family in the 14th century and was refortified in 1400 by Sir John Pauncefote ahead of Owain Glyndŵr’s uprising. Visitors find the ruined double tower on Castle Green, the oval motte, and traces of the bailey in the playing field. The site overlooks the River Usk and the town below, with views of the surrounding hills. Nearby St Mary’s Chapel, linked by some historians to the castle’s past, adds to the historic setting. The Ivy Tower, once thought to be part of the castle, was found to be a later structure unrelated to it. The ruins stand as a reminder of the Turberville and Pauncefote families’ roles in the region’s medieval history.