Penrice Castle ( cy, Castell Pen-rhys) is a 13th-century castle near Penrice, Swansea on the

Gower Peninsula Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...

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 ...

. Nearby is a neo-classical mansion house built in the 1770s. The mansion is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and the surrounding gardens and park is also listed at Grade I on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.

History

Penrice Castle is the 13th-century successor to a strong ringwork to the south east, known as the Mountybank. It was built by the de Penrice family, who were given land there for their part in the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

of Gower. The last de Penrice married a Mansel in 1410 and the castle and its lands passed to the Mansel family. The Mansels later bought

Margam Abbey Margam Abbey ( cy, Abaty Margam) was a Cistercian monastery, located in the village of Margam, a suburb of modern Port Talbot in Wales. History The abbey was founded in 1147 as a daughter house of Clairvaux by Robert, Earl of Gloucester ...

and made it their main seat, while retaining their Gower lands. The castle was damaged in the 17th-century

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. The stone castle is a large, irregular

hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A '' regular hexagon'' has ...

with a round keep on the west side, to which were attached two other towers and a partial

mantlet A mantlet was a portable wall or shelter used for stopping projectiles in medieval warfare. It could be mounted on a wheeled carriage, and protected one or several soldiers. In the First World War a mantlet type of device was used by the French ...

or chemise wall. At the north-west corner is a twin square-towered gatehouse with another tower inside. The ground falls away steeply to the north, east, south and south west, where there are various other turrets, though not scientifically disposed. The whole structure is now in a dangerous condition, but the south wall can be seen from the footpath that runs past the 18th-century mansion on the estate (), immediately to the south. The mansion built in the 1770s by the neo-classical

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Anthony Keck Anthony Keck (1726–1797) was an 18th-century English architect with an extensive practice in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and South Wales. Life Keck was born at Randwick, Gloucestershire in 1726 He designed in the "austere ...

for Thomas Mansel Talbot (1747–1813) of Margam and Penrice, is itself Grade I listed and among the finest country houses in

. While the mansion was being built, the surrounding park, also Grade I listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, was laid out in about 1773–76 by

William Emes William Emes (1729 or 1730–13 March 1803) was an English landscape gardener. Biography Details of his early life are not known but in 1756 he was appointed head gardener to Sir Nathaniel Curzon at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire. He left this post ...

, a follower of Capability Brown. The mansion was built to house Thomas Mansel Talbot's collection of antiquities and works of art. He visited Italy between 1769 and 1773 and bought antiquities from Thomas Jenkins, Gavin Hamilton and

Giambattista Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric ...

, including a Minerva with bronze helmet and a funerary monument (now in the Courtauld Institute, London). He also bought modern furniture by Albacini and Valadier and contemporary sculpture by

Johan Tobias Sergel Johan Tobias Sergel (; 7 September 1740 in Stockholm – 26 February 1814 in Stockholm) was a Swedish neoclassical sculptor. Sergels torg, the largest square in the centre of Stockholm and near where his workshop stood, is named after him. Life ...

, and commissioned busts of himself and Pope Clement XIV from Christopher Hewetson (the latter now in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, London). In addition he bought paintings by Rembrandt and Hackert and drawings by Poussin. His collections were shipped from Italy in 1772 and 1775 and displayed after his marriage in 1792. Much of the collection was later transferred to

Margam Castle Margam Castle, Margam, Port Talbot, Wales, is a late Georgian country house built for Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot. Designed by Thomas Hopper, the castle was constructed in a Tudor Revival style over a five-year period, from 1830 to 1835. ...

and sold at auction in 1941. Information on the Penrice household and family in 1799–1806 and after appears in the published diaries and correspondence of a Scottish-born governess,

Agnes Porter Agnes Porter (c.1752 – 1814) was a British governess known for her diaries. Life Porter was born in Edinburgh; her year of birth is uncertain but her birthday was 18 June. Her father was a member of the clergy. She was fluent in French and she ...

. This was collated by Joanna Martin, after finding the source materials in the castle attic in about 1973.''A Governess in the Age of Jane Austen. The Journals and Letters of Agnes Porter'', ed. Joanna Martin (London: Hambledon Press, 1998). The mansion is now inhabited by the Methuen-Campbell family, who are direct descendants of the de Penrices. The name ''Penrice Castle'' was borne by Castle Class locomotive No. 5057 of the Great Western Railway. The name was transferred to locomotive No. 5081 in 1937 and further transferred to No. 7023 in 1949.

References

External links

Penrice Castlewww.geograph.co.uk : photos of Penrice Castle and surrounding area3D model of the ruins of Penrice Castle (YouTube)
{{Castles of Swansea Castles in Swansea Grade I listed buildings in Swansea Country houses in Wales Grade II* listed buildings in Swansea Registered historic parks and gardens in Swansea

History

References

Further reading

External links