Dorstone Castle was in the village of

Dorstone Dorstone is a village within the Golden Valley, Herefordshire, England. There is a thriving community with a church and public house with restaurant. The Golden Valley area offers excellent hillwalking and horseback riding countryside and is no ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, located 6 miles to the east of Hay-on-Wye.

Motte and bailey

This was a

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 (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortification ...

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 ...

which probably originated in the 12th century when the site was held by the de Sollers family.

Strengthened against Owain

In 1403 Henry IV entrusted the

to Sir Walter Fitzwalter, a Baron FitzWalter, and asked him to strengthen it against likely raids by

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

forces of

Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr or Glyn Dŵr (, anglicised as Owen Glendower), was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander who led a 15 year long Welsh War of Independence with the aim of ending English rule in Wa ...

. After this time Dorstone Castle changed hands several times. Lady Fitzwalter died about 1422 and afterwards the castle belonged to

Richard de la Mare 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 'strong ...

of the

de la Mare Delamare or De la Mare is a surname of Norman origin. Delamare may refer to: * Achille Joseph Delamare (1790-1873), French senator. *Sir Arthur de la Mare (1914–1994), British diplomat * Delphine Delamare (''née'' Couturier, 1822–1848), French ...

family and was then owned by the Lysters who sold it to Morgan Aubrey. It was then purchased by the

Cornewall Cornewall is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cornewall baronets * George Cornewall (1748–1819) – 2nd Baronet See also * Cornwall (disambiguation) Cornwall ( kw, Kernow) is a county in the south west of England, UK. Cor ...

family of nearby

Moccas Court Moccas Court is an 18th-century country house which sits in sloping grounds overlooking the River Wye north of the village of Moccas, Herefordshire, England. It is now a luxury guest house and function venue. The house was built in 1775–81 by t ...

in 1780. Only the earthworks now remain.

References

Dorstone Castle
*Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, ''The David & Charles Book of Castles'', David & Charles, 1980. Castles in Herefordshire {{England-castle-stub