Llawhaden Castle (Welsh: Castell Llanhuadain) is a fortification in Pembrokeshire, Wales that once belonged to the bishops of St. David’s. Probably constructed after the Norman invasion of Wales by Bishop Bernard in 1115, the first castle on the site was a timber and earth ringwork. This early castle was destroyed in 1193 by the native Welsh. It was recaptured and rebuilt in the early years of the next century by the Anglo-Normans with stone defences.
Llawhaden became a borough in 1281 and the surrounding estates grew very wealthy. During the 14th century, the castle was redeveloped, turning it into a grand, fortified house, able to house the Bishop and wealth visitors in considerable style.
Llawhaden Castle fell out of regular use by the bishops in the 15th century, and in 1536 its roof was removed, leaving it in ruins. Restoration work was carried out at the end of the 19th century, and in 1931 it passed into the care of the state. In the 21st century, it is managed by the Welsh heritage agency Cadw and is open to visitors.
History
11th-12th centuries
Llawhaden Castle was built during the early years of the Norman invasion of Wales. After conquering England in 1066, the Normans pushed onto into Wales, moving along the coasts and up the river valleys, and gradually displacing the native Welsh rulers. Llawhaden came to lie on the emerging frontier between the Norman and Flemish settlers to the south and west, and the remaining native Welsh territories to the north and east.
The castle was probably constructed around 1115, by Bernard, who was a chaplain to Henry I’s wife, Queen Matilda. The diocese of St David’s in Pembrokeshire had previously been held by native Welsh churchmen, until Bernard, a Norman, took up the role as bishop that year. Llawhaden was already an important ecclesiastical centre belonging to St David’s, and the castle would have been designed to control the local community, as well as forming part of a sequence of defences along the line of the Norman dominated portions of Wales.
The early castle took the form of a ringwork, 46 m (150 ft) across, defended by an earth bank and dry moat, with a timber palisade. It may have been built on top of older Iron Age earthworks. The Welsh border remained dangerous, however, and in 1192 Lord Rhys, a powerful southern Welsh leader, first took and, the following year, destroyed the castle.
13th-16th centuries
The Bishops of Llawaden regained control of the area in the early 13th century, and probably either Geoffrey de Henlaw or Iorwerth rebuilt the castle in stone, with a large circular tower on the western side, flanked by other mural towers.
Llawaden grew in size, and in 1281 Bishop Bek founded a borough there, complete with markets and fairs. He built a hospital for the poor on the western edge of the settlement. Llawaden became a wealthy borough, with 126, largely English, burgesses by 1326. Bek may have invested in the castle as well, although the evidence is uncertain. Surveys in 1326 and 1327 say little about the state of the castle, although they record a small garden to the east of the site, and a 1.6 ha (4 acre) park further north-east.
During the course of the 14th century, however, the castle was largely rebuilt, turning the military site into what the historian Ralegh Radford describes as a “great fortified mansion”. A sequence of new blocks were built around the inside of the walls, enabling the castle to host and entertain important guests in a more fashionable manner.
Historians have been divided as to which bishop carried out the work. Radford attributed it to David Martyn, Bek’s successor, who held the See until 1329, while Rick Turner considers it to have been carried out by Adam de Houghton, bishop between 1362 and 1383, in partnership with the constable of the castle, John Fawle, who was a master mason in his own right. A large gatehouse was added onto the newly rebuilt castle in the late-14th century, and in 1402 it was garrisoned during the Owain Glyndwr rebellion.
The borough did not grow substantially, and the bishops of St David largely ceased to use the castle in the 15th century, with the exception of Bishop Hugh Pavy, who often made use of it between 1485 and 1496. The castle remained in use as a prison for the diocese, and was rented out to commoners. Despite some repairs being carried out at the start of the century, by 1536 the castle was recorded as being almost entirely empty, save for a feather bed.
After the Protestant Reformation, Bishop William Barlow dismantled the castle’s lead roof in 1536, leaving it in ruins.
17th-21st centuries
Bishop Richard Millbourne planned to demolish the remains of Llawhaden Castle, and was given permission to do so in 1616, but the work was never carried out. Instead, over the subsequent centuries, the remains of the site were quarried for stone for the local roads, causing further decay.
The castle was acquired by the Welch Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1837, and from around 1875 until 1931 it was rented out to the Pembrokeshire Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings. The Society carried out some restoration work and employed a custodian to charge an entrance fee for visitors.
The castle was acquired by the Welch Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1837, and from around 1875 until 1931 it was rented out to the Pembrokeshire Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings. The Society carried out some restoration work and employed a custodian to charge an entrance fee for visitors.
In 1930, the Commissioner of Works paid for teams of unemployed labourers to begin to clear the site of ivy. The following year, the Welsh Church Commission placed the castle permanently into the care of the Commissioner of Works, who continued to clear the site of debris and carried out extensive conservation work.
In the 21st century, the castle is managed by the Welsh heritage agency Cadw, and is open to visitors.
Architecture
Llawhaden Castle lies to the west of the village of Llawhaden, overlooking the eastern Cleddau River, possibly on a former Iron Age site. The original ringwork was protected by a dry moat, now up to 20 metres (66 ft) wide and 7 metres (23 ft) deep in places, but much narrower along the north-east side, where the castle extensions were pushed out into the moat. The moat is crossed today over an earth causeway, although originally a wooden drawbridge would have been used.
The castle is entered by the late-14th century gatehouse, of which only the external facade remains broadly intact. Although it was fortified, the gatehouse – like the rest of the castle that faced the village – was in many ways simply for show. The main windows were large and vulnerable, and the stonework was carved and embellished with purple banding. The gatehouse would originally have been occupied by the castle’s constable, and would have resembled the entrance to Carmarthen Castle, built a few years later.
The rest of the castle buildings stretch around the courtyard. On the south side is a range of two-storey buildings, comprising apartments and the castle chapel, protected by two mural towers. A set of rooms attached to the chapel were used for the Bishop’s exchequer, while the apartments would have provided two sets of lodging for high status guests. The mural tower nearest the gatehouse contained four latrines, emptying into the moat, while a tall tower that formed a porch for the chapel provided a viewing platform over the surrounding estates.
On the northern side of the courtyard is a two-storied range of buildings. The range is centred on the castle’s hall, 7 by 24 metres (23 by 79 ft) across, originally on the first floor and supported by vaulting. The right hand side of the hall would have held a raised dais for the bishop and senior guests. The kitchen, buttery and pantry formed the west wing of the range, 5 by 12 metres (16 by 39 ft) , while the east wing held the bishop’s private chambers, 7 by 12 metres (23 by 39 ft) .
The western side of the courtyard holds various buildings, including the castle’s bakehouse, and another vaulted building that might have housed the garrison. There are also the remains of a 13th-century circular tower that appears to have been incorporated into the 14th century reconstruction. The castle’s well, 30 m (100 ft) deep, is in the centre of the courtyard.
Visiting the site
Bibliography
- Radford, C. A. Ralegh (1947) Llawhaden Castle: Pembrokeshire. London, UK: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
- Turner, Rick. (2000) Lamphey Bishop’s Palace, Llawhaden Castle (2nd Edition, revised). Cardiff, UK: Cadw.
Attribution
The text of this page is licensed under under CC BY-NC 2.0.
Photographs on this page include those drawn from the Wikimedia, Coflein and Geograph websites, as of 10 October 2019, which are attributed and licensed as follows: “Llawhaden Castle H1a” (Public Domain); “The hall range and the well, Llawhaden Castle“, author Humphrey Bolton, released under CC BY-SA 2.0; “Llawhaden Castle“, author Paul Farmer, released under CC BY-SA 2.0; “Llawhaden aerial image”, author Coflein (Crown Copyright, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales), released under Non-Commercial Government Licence v.1.0.
