|
|
|
|
Gosmont Castle is situated behind some houses in the village of Grosmont. It is site which is open all year round and although looked after and managed by CADW it is not one of their sites where they have staff or volunteers or shops or any facilities available. However in the village there is a pub and a local shop which will have these facilities when they are open. History Grosmont Castle would seem to have been founded after the time of William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford. The Earl was killed the following year and his son Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford was stripped of his lands in 1075. The ownership of the land on which castle was built, is not exactly known but is believed to have either passed to the control of the de Ballun family of Abergavenny or the de Lacys of Weobley, Ludlow and Longtown. However it is known that the powerful Marcher Lord Pain Fitz John acquired Grosmont in the reign of King Henry I of England (1100-35) and converted it into the head of a lordship which stretched from White Castle in the west to Orcop castle in the east. In 1134 rebellion broke out in Wales and in 1137 Pain Fitz John was killed in action fighting against the Welsh. In 1139 Brien FitzCount of Abergavenny took the castle from the King and in 1142 granted it by charter to Walter of Hereford. Walter was killed around 1160 fighting in the Holy Land. At this point King Henry II reclaimed the castle and placed royal soldiers within its walls. The castle, requiring little maintenance, remained a royal fortress for the next forty years. In 1201 it was granted to Hubert de Burgh, an officer in the royal service, by King John ‘for his maintenance' in the wars of the period. Gosmont today is the substantial remains of the original 13th century castle still standing and it is one of 3 castles that were granted to Hubert de Burgh, in 1201. The other two castles were Skenfrith Castle, 5 miles south east and White Castle, 6 miles south. Hubert fortified them in 1204 when he became a prisoner of war in France, and it was not until 1219 that he regained them. Access to Grosmont is along a solid path from the village road opposite the church and near the local shop, and then a short walk across a field. You then go through a small narrow gate across a wooden bridge which goes over the now empty moat. There are information panels by the entrance and in the internal ward giving a brief history of the ruin. a gallery is available for this castle, which links back to this page.
Please let us know any other information that we can add to the Grid(s) or page and any errors that you discover. Before making a long trip to any location it is always wise to double check the current information, websites like magazines may be correct at the time the information is written, but things change and it is of course impossible to double check all entries on a regular basis. If you have any good photographs that you feel would improve the illustration of this page then please let us have copies. In referring to this page it is helpful if you quote both the Page Ref and Classification from the Grids above. To print the planning grid select it then right click and print the selected area. Please submit information on locations you discover so that this system continues to grow.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|