Upton Castle is a 13th-century

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

fortified A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

with an associated

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

, located near

Cosheston Cosheston is a village, parish and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on an inlet of the Daugleddau estuary, 3 km north-east of Pembroke. The parish includes the settlement of Bateman's Hill. The northern part of the communi ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Although in private ownership, the gardens are open to the public. They are listed on the

Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales The Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales is a heritage register of significant historic parks and gardens in Wales. It is maintained by Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government. Th ...

History

Upton Castle is believed to have been built in the 13th century and stands close to a

creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: People * Creek people, also known as Muscogee, Native Americans ...

of the

River Cleddau The River Cleddau ( cy, Afon Cleddau) consists of the Eastern and Western Cleddau rivers in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. They unite to form the Daugleddau estuary and the important harbour of Milford Haven. The name of the combined estuary – ...

on land held by the

Earls of Pembroke Earl of Pembroke is a title in the Peerage of England that was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title, which is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, has been recreated ten times from its origin ...

. The original holders were the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

Malefaunt family, in whose hands it remained until the 16th century when it passed to the Bowen family. In the late 18th century, the house and estate was sold to John Tasker, although

Nicholas Carlisle Sir Nicholas Carlisle, KH, FRS, MRIA, (1771 in York, England – 27 August 1847 in Margate, England) was an English antiquary and librarian. In 1806, he became a candidate for the office of Secretary to the Society of Antiquaries, which he o ...

described the building in 1811 as "now in ruins". Between 1828 and 1860 there were considerable alterations to the building, including the insertion of a new door and the construction of two large

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

s. In January 1883 there was a fire at the castle, attended by a fire crew from the 23rd Regiment, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. The owner at the time was Mr H. H. Vaughan. The damage was confined to timbers, walls and chimney-piece. Management of the gardens, which had been substantially improved in the early 20th century, was taken over by the

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Pembrokeshire Coast National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Arfordir Penfro) is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales. It was established as a National Park in 1952. It is one of three national parks in Wales, the others bei ...

and opened to the public in 1976. However, the park authority later withdrew their funding and since the property changed hands in 2007, the new owners and a team of volunteers have restored and reopened the gardens. In the summer of 2012, the castle was investigated by a team of

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

s from the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

television series ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

'', which confirmed that the chapel pre-dated the castle.

Description

Too small to be described as castle in the strict sense of the word, most sources refer to it as a "fortified

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

" although its towers are unusually strong in comparison with other examples. The medieval portion of the exterior stands to the north east of the range, which is dominated by three early

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

s, separated by short sections of curtain wall and surmounted by a plain

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

s. Surviving internal medieval features include two fireplaces, a

spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

and a

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

ed ceiling. It is a Grade II

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 ...

. The gardens are designated Grade II on the

Upton Chapel

Close to the castle is Upton Chapel dedicated to

Saint Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

. Dated to the 12th or 13th century, it consists of a small nave and chancel. Amongst the various

memorials A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, Tragedy (event), tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objec ...

in the chapel are the

effigies An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

of William Malefant (died in 1362) wearing

chain mail Chain mail (properly called mail or maille but usually called chain mail or chainmail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common military use between the 3rd century BC and ...

and another of a female member of the Malefant family. The interior was restored in 1978 by the owner of the castle. It is a Grade I listed building.

References

{{coord, 51.7060, -4.8663, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Castles in Pembrokeshire Grade II listed buildings in Pembrokeshire Grade II listed castles in Wales Registered historic parks and gardens in Pembrokeshire