Clifford Castle is a ruined

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

in the village of Clifford which lies 2.5 miles to the north-east of

Hay-on-Wye Hay-on-Wye, or simply Hay (; or simply ), is a market town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as a book town, "town of books"; it is both the National Book Town of Wales and the s ...

in the Wye Valley in

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

, England (). It was the '' caput'' of the feudal barony of Clifford, a

Marcher Lord A marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in Fra ...

ship (owing allegiance directly to the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

, but separate from the rest of the kingdom). The castle stands in the grounds of a private house and is only open to the public on certain days of the year.

History

The early

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively eas ...

was built on a cliff overlooking a ford on the

River Wye The River Wye (; ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn Estuary. The lower reaches of the river forms part of Wales-England bor ...

in 1070 by

William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, Lord of Breteuil ( 1011 – 22 February 1071), was a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. FitzOsbern was created Earl of Herefo ...

, on a wasteland formerly occupied by Browning. The castle was intended to provide protection for a planned Norman settlement above the River Wye of quite a substantial size, with around 200 plots being intended, running uphill for half a mile towards Llanfair, where the church was sited on the hilltop. St Mary's church remains today, much altered in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

. The position of the castle as adjacent to the

enabled the seasonal flooding of the river to fill the

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

around the castle, forming a shallow lake or marsh with the assistance of a dam on the western or upstream side of the site, acting as a further form of defence. After FitzOsbern was slain in battle at Flanders, the castle passed to his son,

Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford (c. 1056 – after 1087), succeeded in 1071 to the earldom of Hereford and the English estate of his father, William Fitz-Osbern. He is known to history for his role in the Revolt of the Earls. Revolt ...

. Roger forfeited his lands for rebellion against the king in 1075, and the castle was granted to Ralph Tosny who held it directly from

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

, and it was the Tosnys who rebuilt the castle in stone (in a manner much resembling the Tosnys' Conches Castle in Normandy). As the bulk of Ralph's time was spent in Normandy, the castle was rented to Gilbert, Sheriff of Hereford for 60 shillings. After the marriage of Ralph's daughter, Margaret de Tosny, to Walter Fitz Richard, Walter became steward of the lands and estate, later claiming them for himself and taking the name of Walter de Clifford sometime before 1162. It was Walter's daughter, Rosamund Clifford (known for her beauty as the Fair Rosamund), who became famous as the mistress of

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

, which she remained until her death in 1176 or 1177 when she was buried at

Godstow Godstow is a hamlet about northwest of the centre of Oxford. It lies on the banks of the River Thames between the villages of Wolvercote to the east and Wytham to the west. The ruins of Godstow Abbey, also known as Godstow Nunnery, are here. ...

in Oxfordshire. A property near the castle is called Rosamund House today, and one of the surviving towers is known as "Rosamund's Tower". In 1233 Walter's grandson, Walter de Clifford (died 1263), rebelled against the autocratic rule of King Henry III. In early September the king came and besieged Clifford Castle, forcing the garrison to surrender after just a few days. Walter Clifford then made his peace with the Crown and led his troops against Prince

Llywelyn ab Iorwerth Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (, – 11 April 1240), also known as Llywelyn the Great (, ; ), was a medieval Welsh ruler. He succeeded his uncle, Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, as King of Gwynedd in 1195. By a combination of war and diplomacy, he dominate ...

, his father-in-law. Walter's volte-face was doubly dishonourable, as Prince Llywelyn had just entered the field to fight the king in support of Walter. Twenty years later Walter nearly rebelled again, when, in a fit of anger, he forced a royal messenger to eat a royal writ, together with the royal wax

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

the size of a dinner plate. For this, Walter lost many of his

privileges. Walter had no male heir and so Clifford fell to his daughter, Matilda Clifford (widow of the Earl of Salisbury's grandson), some time in the 1260s. It was during the

Second Barons' War The Second Barons' War (1264–1267) was a civil war in Kingdom of England, England between the forces of barons led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, Simon de Montfort against the royalist forces of Henry III of England, King Hen ...

when John Giffard of Brimpsfield took the castle, whereupon he kidnapped, raped and forcibly married Matilda. Though Giffard was fined, Matilda declined any further action and chose to accept her erstwhile abductor as her husband, and they lived together in the Clifford estate until Giffard's death in 1299, whereupon the king granted Clifford to the Mortimers of Wigmore.

Ruination

After the Welsh had been successfully conquered, Clifford Castle diminished in value considerably, and was allowed to deteriorate. Though the castle was garrisoned against the rebellion of

Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (28 May 135420 September 1415), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr (Glyn Dŵr, , anglicised as Owen Glendower) was a Welsh people, Welsh leader, soldier and military commander in the Wales in the late Middle Ages, late Middle ...

in 1402, it saw no further use. The damage it received during the uprising was left unrepaired, and the castle was abandoned and allowed to fall into ruin, with much of the stone pillaged for the older properties seen in the village today; large dressed stone blocks can be seen in numerous garden walls.

Excavations

1920s

O. Trumper, the then-owner of the site, carried out a series of excavations between 1925 and 1928, which were successful in revealing the bases of twin towers either side of the castle entrance, and a large building (containing an annexe and bailey) to the east of the castle. Evidence was also discovered for a southern tower, guardroom and

portcullis A portcullis () is a heavy, vertically closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications. It consists of a latticed Grille (architecture), grille made of wood and/or metal, which slides down grooves inset within each jamb of the gateway. ...

, alongside a section of the curtain wall. Findings from the excavations of this period unrelated to the castle included a boar's tusk, wolf vertebra and a Roman brooch.

1950s

Between 1950 and 1953 a further series of excavations were embarked on, discoveries from which included the foundations of a tower on the motte, alongside further sections of curtain wall. A complete excavation of the barbican was undertaken, and evidence of a roadway uncovered. Findings from these excavations included pottery and iron, arrowheads, a knife, a bullet mould, a key, iron nails and a bridle bit.

Modern ruin

The castle is no longer on the

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

– Heritage at Risk Register. The present owners have worked closely with English Heritage to implement a program of works to stabilise the current structure and prevent further decay. This work has now been completed and images can be seen a
cliffordcastle.org
Clifford castle now consists of a great motte as constructed by the men of William FitzOsbern in the late 1060s. This was later sub-divided and the eastern part was crowned by an ovoid shell keep with five D-shaped towers in its circuit. Its north wall appears to overlie part of William FitzOsbern's original hall. To the east of the motte is the castle bailey. Most of the walls of this structure have disappeared, but centrally are the remains of a great twin-towered

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 most ...

probably of the mid-thirteenth century. To the west of the castle is a broken earthwork dam which would have flooded the valley to the south of the castle. With the River Wye to the north, the fortress would have been surrounded by water on all sides except for the east. As such it would have been a very difficult fortress to take by storm. Clifford Castle is within the grounds of a family home and has limited public access on dates published on the Clifford Castle website. A branch of

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

ran just to the north of the castle, between the castle and the river. The next station to the north on this line was nearby in Clifford, and the next station to the south was Hay-on-Wye railway station. This station was also the terminus of the Great Western line—beyond the station the line was the Golden Valley Railway. The Great Western named one of its Castle-class locomotives after Clifford Castle. Locomotive 5071 was built in June 1938, but in September 1940 it was renamed Spitfire. In May 1946, a new build locomotive, 5098, was named after the castle.

References

*Remfry, P.M., ''Clifford Castle, 1066 to 1299'' () *Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, ''The David & Charles Book of Castles'', David & Charles, 1980.

External links

SMR listing of Clifford Castle
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725041408/http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/castles/castlesdata_az/clifford_castle.htm , date=25 July 2008
English Heritage Heritage At Risk Register 2010
Castles in Herefordshire Ruins in Herefordshire Grade I listed buildings in Herefordshire