Bronllys Castle

Bronllys Castle (Welsh: Castell Bronllys) is a motte and bailey fortress standing south of Bronllys, towards Talgarth in Powys, Wales. The original castle, constructed of wood, was founded in or soon after 1100 by Richard Fitz Pons, the owner of the nearby Herefordshire barony of Clifford, who was a supporter of Bernard of Neufmarché.

In 1144 Roger Fitzmiles, Earl of Hereford, detached the land surrounding Bronllys from the Lordship of Brecknock, and gave it to Richard's son, Walter de Clifford, who then rebuilt the castle in stone. Walter seems to have been responsible for building the round tower on the motte, as in 1165 it caught fire and a stone tumbling from the battlements killed Earl Roger's last surviving brother Mahel de Hereford; Gerald of Wales claims that, while dying from the injury, Mahel repented of his previous persecution of the Bishop of St Davids, which he blamed for his fate.

Roger and his brothers were childless, so Brecknock passed first to their sister's husband, Philip de Braose, then to Eleanor de Braose, and so came under the control of her husband, Humphrey de Bohun.

In September 1233 Walter's grandson, another Walter de Clifford, had a force of over 200 men defending the castle against his father-in-law Llywelyn ab Iorwerth. Walter had no son, only a daughter, Maud, who married John Giffard, and inherited the lands when Walter died in 1263. The land was divided between the two daughters of John and Maud, with Bronllys going to the youngest, Maud.

Maud (the daughter) died in 1311, and Edward II gave the castle to Rhys ap Hywel (a local resident descendant of the former kings of Brycheiniog) as reward for loyalty to the crown. Rhys rebelled against the machinations of Edward's favourite and the king took back Bronllys; after Rhys helped depose Edward, being a member of the search party who seized him, he regained Bronllys.

Bronllys was inherited by Rhys' son, Philip ap Rhys. Although Philip's brother, Einion Sais was a prominent military supporter of the new king, Edward III allowed himself to be persuaded by Humphrey de Bohun, Lord of Brecknock that a place like Bronllys should be ruled by a powerful magnate such as himself, rather than a weak one such as Philip, so Edward transferred the castle to Humphrey.

Bronllys was inherited by Humphrey's nephew, Humphrey de Bohun.

Text adapted from “Bronllys Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Bronllys Castle ranks #5,041 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #95 of the 100 mapped in Wales. Founded c. 1100, it is older than 86% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 325 atlas entries founded in the 11th century. 7 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Cardiff, 58 km away. See how Wales compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗