Cilgerran Castle

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Cilgerran Castle

Cilgerran Castle is a medieval castle near Cardigan in Pembrokeshire in Wales. The castle, of which only a ruin is still preserved, was built in the 12th century and is now owned by the National Trust.

History

The first attachment to this point was a moth, which is a castle in wood construction, which was probably built around 1100. They may concern, this is the castle Cenarth Bychan, which was built by Gerald of Windsor, the Anglo-Norman constable of Pembroke Castle, and so far could not be clearly localized. From this fabled castle kidnapped in 1109 Owain ap Cadwgan, Prince of Powys, Gerald de Windsor's wife Nest ferch Rhys and their children.

Cilgerran Castle was first documented in 1165, took as Lord Rhys, a ruler of the Principality of Deheubarth, South Wales, the castle. 1204 conquered William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, an Anglo -Norman knight and Lord Marshal of England the castle. 1215 occupied the Welsh Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Gwynedd, in his conquests in the south of Wales the system. However, 1223 was William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke retake the castle and built on it in its current form. 1257 failed the Welsh with another attempt to take the castle.

In the second half of the 13th century, after the last male Marshal had died, the castle came by marriage into the possession of the de Cantelupe family and later the Hastings family. However, one little invested in the preservation of the castle, so that she fell slowly. It was only in 1377 prompted King Edward III. Repair and expansion projects to meet at an impending French invasion. 1389 the castle fell to the Crown, as the family Hastings had no male heir. By 1400 the attachment again gained greater significance than Owain Glyndwr, a Welsh national hero, with French support, waged a war of independence against England.

Cilgerran Castle was later donated by King Henry VII of the Vaughan family, who lived there until they moved into a newly -built property, to the beginning of the 17th century in the vicinity. In the 18th and 19th century, the castle fell into disrepair and became a ruin. In 1938, the then owner, Sir Lewes Pryce, Cilgerran Castle to the National Trust.

Plant

Cilgerran Castle is located on a rocky headland between the River Teifi and the influent Plysgog. Since the Teifi reached its Tidengrenze here, the castle was a natural crossing point and place of transit of ships. The headland is protected by two trenches towards the open side.

Major parts of the plant go to William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke back. The first trench comprises a front castle with the remains of a gatehouse. The collapse of the building was caused by the breakdown of slate in the 19th century. Behind the outer defenses enclosing a further ditch the courtyard, the William Marshal was fastened with two large towers and a massive gatehouse. Medieval castles usually have, however, only a high tower in the castle center. A drawbridge gave access to the three-storey gatehouse. Above the gate was a small room, possibly a chapel. In a passage lay with slit windows, linking the gatehouse with the two round towers in the east. On the wall there was a parapet with battlements and a second access road to the towers.

Both towers have a ground floor and three upper floors, the position of which can be seen respectively through the beam holes for wood floors and fireplaces. Access to the east tower was via a spiral staircase inside the tower. The ground floor room had a separate entrance. Access to the upper floors probably led through trapdoors. The west tower originally had an entrance on the first floor via a staircase from the courtyard. Here was the access to the upper floors via trapdoors. The Sally -port consisting of a door through the wall next to the east tower and another through the wall of the outer ward, gave the defenders the possibility the attackers to fall in the back.

The inner courtyard was surrounded by a several -meter-thick wall with slit windows and battlements. The walls of the castle interior was much thinner and had window. The buildings along the north - east and north - west side of the castle courtyard probably date from the second half of the 13th century. It was probably a hall and private apartments. A kitchen was located on the western wall. On the south end of the plant was a third tower. Under King Edward III. There was a further expansion of the weir. Several buildings on the courtyard were added and built a D-shaped north tower. The castle now resembled in its investment the Pembroke Castle.