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 is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
listed former border 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 ...
located approximately northwest of Welsh Newton 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
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.
It was most likely constructed by Matilda de St Valery sometime before 1208. It is over away from the actual village of Pembridge
Pembridge is a village and civil parish in the 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 Bro ...
.Mortimer
Mortimer is an English surname.
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 point; one 11th century figure associ ...
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 or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
. 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 dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
. 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 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 castles that were fortified residen ...
, 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.
See also
*Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
Castles have played an important military, economic and social role in Great Britain and Ireland since their introduction following the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Although a small number of castles had been built in England in the 105 ...
*List of castles in England
This list of castles in England is not a list of every building and site that has "castle" as part of its name, nor does it list only buildings that conform to a strict definition of a castle as a medieval fortified residence. It is not a list ...
References
External links
History from castlewales.com
Grade I listed buildings in Herefordshire
Castles in Herefordshire
{{England-castle-stub