Pembridge Castle, originally called Newland Castle,
/ref> is a late 12th century to early 13th century

Grade I 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 Irel ...

listed former border

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 approximately northwest of

Welsh Newton Welsh Newton is a small village and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England. It is located close to the border with Wales to which the parish extends towards Monmouthshire. It should not be confused with Newton, a township-chapel ...

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 ...

. It was most likely constructed by

Matilda de St Valery Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse * Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...

sometime before 1208. It is over away from the actual village of

Pembridge Pembridge is a village and civil parish in Arrow valley in Herefordshire, England. The village is on the A44 road about east of Kington and west of Leominster. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Bearwood, Lower Bearwood, Lower Br ...

. Founded by 1208, it was the seat of the Pembridge family, then later the Wakes and

Mortimer Mortimer () is an English surname, and occasionally a given name. Norman origins The surname Mortimer has a Norman origin, deriving from the village of Mortemer, Seine-Maritime, Normandy. A Norman castle existed at Mortemer from an early poi ...

families in the 14th and 15th centuries. The chapel is 16th century and was ruined in 1644 during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of Kingdom of England, England's governanc ...

. Much reconstruction of the castle was undertaken in the early 20th century by a Dr Hedley Bartlett. It remains in private ownership. The castle sits on a 36 m x 27 m plot of land and is surrounded by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

. It is constructed of ashlar, sandstone and rubble walls. The curtain wall surrounding the castle is 1.4 m thick. The earliest part of the castle, thought to be the

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 ...

, is the four story round tower on the western corner. The internal diameter of the tower is 7.5 m and the internal rooms of the tower are 5 m wide.

References

External links

History from castlewales.com
Grade I listed buildings in Herefordshire Castles in Herefordshire {{England-castle-stub

See also

References

External links