Crug Eryr Castle (Castell Crug Eryr) was a
motte and bailey-style castle located atop a hill adjacent to the
A44 A44 may refer to :
* A44 road (Great Britain), a road connecting Oxford, England and Aberystwyth, Wales
* A44 motorway (Germany), a road connecting Aachen at the German-Belgian border and Kassel
* A44 motorway (Netherlands), a motorway in the Nethe ...
about 2 miles northwest of
Llanfihangel Nant Melan, near
New Radnor
New Radnor ( cy, Maesyfed) is a village in Powys, Wales, to the south of Radnor Forest, and was the county town of Radnorshire.
In the 2001 census, the community's population of 410 was split evenly between male and female, in 192 household ...
in
Powys
Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain.
Geog ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. Crug Eryr, which means "the eagle's mount," was likely situated to block the mountain pass into
Maelienydd
Maelienydd, sometimes spelt Maeliennydd, was a cantref and lordship in east central Wales covering the area from the River Teme to Radnor Forest and the area around Llandrindod Wells. The area, which is mainly upland, is now in Powys. During the ...
.
The castle's exact origins are unclear, though some scholars believe it belonged to the princes of Maelienydd, considering that Maelgwn ap Cadwallon, 'Prince of Melenia' (i.e. Maelienydd) son of
Cadwallon ap Madog
Cadwallon ap Madog was the son of Madog ab Idnerth who had died in 1140, while Idnerth was a grandson of Elystan Glodrydd who had died in around 1010 and had founded a dynasty in the Middle Marches of Wales, in the area known as Rhwng Gwy a Hafren ...
, received the
Archbishop of Canterbury at Crug Eryr Castle in March 1188. This occasion was an early stop on the Tour of Wales during which the Archbishop was accompanied by
Gerald of Wales
Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...
. This tour was intended as a recruiting campaign of the
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...
.
The herald-bard
Llywelyn Crug Eryr lived here in about 1300.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Images from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales- further photographs and details about Castell Crug Eryr
Castles in Powys
Castle ruins in Wales
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