Penllyn Castle is a Norman-style

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

, dating mainly from the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

period, located in

Cowbridge Cowbridge () is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately west of the centre of Cardiff. The Cowbridge with Llanblethian community and civil parish elect a town council. A Cowbridge electoral ward exists for elections to ...

, south-east of

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. Built by Robert Fitzhamon in 1135, the

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

Earl of Gloucester The title of Earl of Gloucester was created several times in the Peerage of Peerage of England, England. A fictional earl is also a character in William Shakespeare's play ''King Lear.'' Earls of Gloucester, 1st Creation (1121) *Robert, 1st Earl ...

, it shares an oblong tower like contemporary

Ogmore Castle Ogmore Castle () is a Grade I listed castle ruin located near the village of Ogmore in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, east of Ogmore-by-Sea, and south of the town of Bridgend. It is situated on the south bank of the Ewenny River and the east ban ...

. The high-location was chosen as it gave clear-view over both the

River Thaw The River Thaw () (also Ddaw) is a river in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. At 20 kilometres/12.4 miles, it is the longest river entirely in the Vale of Glamorgan. Course Its source is in the hills just south of the M4 Motorway ne ...

and

Ewenny River The Ewenny River () is a river in South Wales. For most of its length, it forms the border between the Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend. It is a major tributary of the River Ogmore, which it joins near its estuary. Course The river rises to the n ...

valleys. Reportedly attacked 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 ...

, today the two surviving main walls of the original castle stand on the edge of a low cliff above the River Thaw. They include near the base six courses of "herringbone" masonry, a feature of early Norman construction. These add to the academic theory that the castle was one of the first Norman structures built during Fitzhamon's occupation of Glamorgan. In Tudor times, the Turbeville family built a manor house in the residual grounds, for which the former castle keep forms one corner. In the 1790s, a new manor house was built by Miss Gwinnett between 1780 and 1790, and the old house which now lies derelict converted into a stable block. In 1846, after his return from

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, where his father, ironmaster Jeremiah Homfray, had been living in order to escape his creditors after his bankruptcy, the castle was bought by John Homfray. Using a "Tudorbethan"-style to match the previous works undertaken by the Turbeville family, he rebuilt the estate between 1846 and 1860. This included the construction of a new entrance lodge, which today itself is a

Grade I listed building 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, Hi ...

as part of the estates group value. Homfray demolished most of Miss Gwinnett's manor house, and rebuilt it in a contemporary Victorian architecture style with stucco-plaster walls, which itself today is only Grade II listed. The castle was sold to the Cory family in 1961 in order to pay death duties. The castle is not accessible to the public. In 2005, the semi-derelict castle stable block and manor house were both used as the main shooting location for '' Tooth and Claw'', the second episode of the second series of the resurrected

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

television series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

''. The castle was set as a Victorian-era Scottish castle, home to some monks who were playing host to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. The castle was sold in October 2018 to Terence and Judith Edgell with a view to restoring it to its former glory and using it as their family home.

References

External links

Penllyn Castle @ CastleWales.com
{{Coord, 51.474612, -3.471911, display=title Castles in the Vale of Glamorgan 1135 establishments in Europe Grade II listed buildings in the Vale of Glamorgan Grade II listed castles in Wales 12th-century establishments in Wales