Adullam Baptist Chapel Painscastle - geograph

Painscastle () is a village and

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

(formerly

Radnorshire Radnorshire () was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974, later becoming a Districts of Wales, district of Powys from 1974 to 1996. It covered a sparsely populat ...

), Wales which takes its name from the castle at its heart. It lies between

Builth Builth Wells (; ) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of the Wye Valley. In 20 ...

and

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 ...

, approximately 3 miles from the Wales-England border today. The community also includes the villages and settlements of Rhosgoch, Bryngwyn, Llandeilo Graban and

Llanbedr Llanbedr () is a village and Community (Wales), community south of Harlech. Administratively, it lies in the Ardudwy area, formerly Meirionnydd, of the county of Gwynedd, Wales. In 2011 the community had a population of 645. History Ancient ...

. The population as of the

2011 UK Census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

was 524. It is represented by the Painscastle and Rhosgoch Community Council, which comprises eight community councillors.Community – Council Members
Painscastle and Rhosgoch Community website. Retrieved 26 January 2018. It is included in the Glasbury

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

for

Powys County Council Powys County Council () is the local authority for Powys, one of the 22 principal areas of Wales. The council is based at County Hall in Llandrindod Wells. History The county of Powys was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act ...

elections. The southern boundary of the community runs through the Begwns, the larger part of which range of hills are within the community. The village itself sits in the broad valley of the Bachawy a small left-bank tributary of 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 ...

which runs westwards to the south of it. To the north the community extends to include Red Hill, Llanbedr Hill and Bryngwyn Hill.

Castle

Little now remains of the castle that gives the village its name, other than the massive earthworks. The first castle would appear to have been built by Pain fitzJohn and probably destroyed after his death in 1137. The castle was rebuilt and in the hands of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber by 1195, subsequently attacked by Rhys ap Gruffudd of

Deheubarth Deheubarth (; , thus 'the South') was a regional name for the Welsh kingdoms, realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd (Latin: ''Venedotia''). It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under ...

and Gwenwynwyn ab Owain of

during the late 1190s.Painscastle Castle
CastleWales.com. Retrieved 26 January 2018. After being briefly in the hands of King

John of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

it was captured by Gwalter ab Einion Clud in 1215. He was granted the Lordship of Elfael until his death in 1222 and after this date the castle was destroyed by the Welsh. In 1231 the castle was rebuilt in stone by King

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of John, King of England, King John and Isabella of Ang ...

. It was again destroyed by the Welsh in 1265 and rebuilt by Ralph Tosny 1277. It was refortified yet again at the time of the Welsh rebellion led by

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 1401.

References

External links

Painscastle and Rhosgoch Community website
{{authority control Communities in Powys Villages in Powys