} St Quintins Castle (also known as St Quentins Castle and Llanblethian Castle, cy, Castell Llanfleiddan) is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

located in the village of

Llanblethian Llanblethian ( cy, Llanfleiddian) is a village in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales which sits upon the River Thaw. It makes up part of the community of Cowbridge with Llanblethian, which consists of the village itself, the larger market town of Cow ...

Cowbridge Cowbridge ( cy, Y Bont-faen) is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately west of the centre of Cardiff. The Cowbridge with Llanblethian community and civil parish elect a town council. A Cowbridge electoral ward exist ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and ...

and a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

and is under the care of

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

.St Quentins Castle, Llanblethian
Gatehouse Gazetteer, 5 April 2016. The site was first occupied with a defensive structure in about 1102 and the gatehouse and further building work took place around 1312. It was later used as a prison and was reported as being in a ruinous state by 1741.

Initial fortifications

Around 1102

Robert Fitzhamon Robert Fitzhamon (died March 1107), or Robert FitzHamon (literally, 'Robert, son of Hamon'), Seigneur de Creully in the Calvados region and Torigny in the Manche region of Normandy, was the first Norman feudal baron of Gloucester and the Nor ...

, the first Norman Lord of

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Mot ...

bequeathed the lands of Llanblethian as a lordship to Herbert de St Quentin who is thought to have built the first fortification at the site of the castle. This initial construct was believed to have been a simple

ringwork A ringwork is a form of fortified defensive structure, usually circular or oval in shape. Ringworks are essentially motte-and-bailey castles without the motte. Defences were usually earthworks in the form of a ditch and bank surrounding the sit ...

defence with timber walls, a bank and ditch. A rectangular stone

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

was built in the late 12th century, whose remains can now be found within the later

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the mo ...

. This keep may have replaced a similar wooden structure.

14th-century reinforcements

The lordship remained with the St Quentin family until 1233 when the land was seized by

Richard Siward Richard Siward (died 1248) was a distinguished 13th-century soldier, adventurer and banneret. He rose from obscurity to become a member of King Henry III's Royal Council and husband of Philippa Basset, the widowed countess of Warwick. Origins L ...

, but he then lost it to Earl

Richard de Clare Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

in 1245. Richard de Clare seized large areas of this part of Glamorganshire, from Cowbridge to

Llantrisant Llantrisant (; " Parish of the Three Saints") is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying on the River Ely and the Afon Clun. The three saints of the town's name are ...

, but it was his grandson, Earl Gilbert de Clare, who began to build the stone structure of St Quintins Castle which stands today. This was thought to have been roughly after 1307, but Gilbert de Clare was killed in the

Battle of Bannockburn The Battle of Bannockburn ( gd, Blàr Allt nam Bànag or ) fought on June 23–24, 1314, was a victory of the army of King of Scots Robert the Bruce over the army of King Edward II of England in the First War of Scottish Independence. It wa ...

in 1314 before the castle was completed. Modern historians believe that the lack of inner courtyard buildings and the weakness of the curtain wall points to the hypothesis that the castle was never fully completed.

Defensive layout

The castle itself is a rectangular stone walled enclosure, roughly 64 metres East to West. The walls are roughly 120 centimetres in thickness. It is set on a spur above steep slopes on all sides apart from the East side. The weak East side of the fortification is protected by a twin-tower gatehouse and a further two towers East entrance facade. The best defensive side is the southern side which falls away sharply to the

River Thaw The River Thaw ( cy, Afon Ddawan) (also Ddaw) is a river in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. At 20 kilometres/12.4 miles, it is the longest river entirely in the Vale of Glamorgan. Course Its source is in the hills just south of th ...

. It was reported as being ruinous by 1741.

The castle today

The base of a semi-octagonal tower can be seen at the southeast corner of the castle and parts of a tower at the southwest corner. The ivy-clad gatehouse is between these and is a substantial structure where you can see the slits for the two

portcullis A portcullis (from Old French ''porte coleice'', "sliding gate") is a heavy vertically-closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications, consisting of a latticed grille made of wood, metal, or a combination of the two, which slides down ...

es and the fittings for the sets of strong doors. The remains of the keep are largely rubble and little remains of the bailey walls on the east, north and south sides. It is a

and a

References

External links