Painscastle (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

: ''Castell-paen'') is a village and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

(formerly

Radnorshire , HQ = Presteigne , Government = Radnorshire County Council (1889–1974) Radnorshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin = , Status = historic county, administrative county , Start ...

), Wales which takes its name from the castle at its heart. It lies between

Builth Builth Wells (; cy, Llanfair-ym-Muallt) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of ...

and

Hay-on-Wye Hay-on-Wye ( cy, Y Gelli Gandryll), simply known locally as "Hay" ( cy, Y Gelli), is a market town and community in Powys, Wales; it was historically in the county of Brecknockshire. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as "the t ...

, approximately 3 miles from the Wales-England border today. The community also includes the villages and settlements of

Rhosgoch Rhosgoch (; meaning: ''Red Moor'') is a small village in the north of the island of Anglesey, Wales, about to the south-west of Amlwch. It is in the community of Rhosybol. A short distance to the west of the village is the small lake Llyn Ha ...

Bryngwyn Bryngwyn is a village and rural location in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. Location Bryngwyn is located two miles to the west of Raglan in Monmouthshire. History and amenities Bryngwyn is a rural areclose to Raglan Castle and with ea ...

, Llandeilo Graban and

Llanbedr Llanbedr () is a village and community south of Harlech. Administratively, it lies in the Ardudwy area, formerly Meirionnydd, of the county of Gwynedd, Wales. History Ancient monuments at Llanbedr include Neolithic standing stones; the St ...

. The population as of the

2011 UK Census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

was 524. It is represented by the Painscastle and Rhosgoch Community Council, which comprises eight community councillors.Community – Council Members
Painscastle and Rhosgoch Community website. Retrieved 26 January 2018. It is included in the

Glasbury Glasbury ( cy, Y Clas-ar-Wy), also known as Glasbury-on-Wye, is a village and community in Powys, Wales. The village lies at an important crossing point on the River Wye, connecting the historic counties of Brecknockshire and Radnorshire, and ...

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

for

Powys County Council Powys County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Powys) is the local authority for Powys, one of the administrative areas of Wales. The County Hall is in Llandrindod Wells. History The county of Powys was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Governme ...

elections. The southern boundary of the community runs through

the Begwns The Begwns, or sometimes The Begwyns, is a small upland area in eastern Powys, Wales. They sit within the communities of Painscastle, Glasbury and Clyro, to the north of a great bend in the course of the Wye valley, west of Hay-on-Wye. ‘Begwns' ...

, the larger part of which range of hills are within the community. The village itself sits in the broad valley of the

Bachawy The Bachawy ( cy, Nant Bachawy) (or Bach Howey on Early Ordnance Survey maps.) is a minor river in Powys, Wales. It rises in the hills north of Painscastle, flowing initially to the southeast before turning to the southwest at Rhos-goch, assumin ...

a small left-bank tributary of the

River Wye The River Wye (; cy, Afon Gwy ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of Wal ...

which runs westwards to the south of it. To the north the community extends to include Red Hill, Llanbedr Hill and Bryngwyn Hill.

Castle

Little now remains of the castle that gives the village its name, other than the massive earthworks. The first castle would appear to have been built by

Pain fitzJohn Pain fitzJohn (before 110010 July 1137) was an Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman nobleman and administrator, one of King Henry I of England's "list of Henry's new men, new men", who owed their positions and wealth to the king. Pain's family originate ...

and probably destroyed after his death in 1137. The castle was rebuilt and in the hands of

William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber William de Braose, (or William de Briouze), 4th Lord of Bramber (1144/1153 – 9 August 1211), court favourite of King John of England, at the peak of his power, was also Lord of Gower, Abergavenny, Brecknock, Builth, Radnor, Kington, L ...

by 1195, subsequently attacked by

Rhys ap Gruffudd Rhys ap Gruffydd, commonly known as The Lord Rhys, in Welsh ''Yr Arglwydd Rhys'' (c. 1132 – 28 April 1197) was the ruler of the Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales from 1155 to 1197 and native Prince of Wales. It was believed that h ...

Deheubarth Deheubarth (; lit. "Right-hand Part", thus "the South") was a regional name for the realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to Gwynedd (Latin: ''Venedotia''). It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under the House of ...

and

Gwenwynwyn ab Owain Gwenwynwyn ab Owain Cyfeiliog (died c. 1216) was the last major ruler of mid Wales before the completion of the Norman English invasion. He was one of few native rulers to represent a real threat to the rule of Llywelyn the Great. Lineage Gwenwy ...

during the late 1190s.Painscastle Castle
CastleWales.com. Retrieved 26 January 2018. After being briefly in the hands of King

John of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Emp ...

it was captured by Gwalter ab Einion Clud in 1215. He was granted the Lordship of

Elfael Elfael was one of a number of Welsh cantrefi occupying the region between the River Wye and river Severn, known as Rhwng Gwy a Hafren, in the early Middle Ages. It was divided into two commotes, Is Mynydd and Uwch Mynydd, separated by the chain of ...

until his death in 1222 and after this date the castle was destroyed by the Welsh. In 1231 the castle was rebuilt in stone by King

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry a ...

. It was again destroyed by the Welsh in 1265 and rebuilt by Ralph Tosny 1277. It was refortified yet again at the time of the Welsh rebellion led by

Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr or Glyn Dŵr (, anglicised as Owen Glendower), was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander who led a 15 year long Welsh War of Independence with the aim of ending English rule in Wa ...

in 1401.

References

External links

Painscastle and Rhosgoch Community website
{{authority control Communities in Powys Villages in Powys