Painscastle Castle is a

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 ...

in the village of

Painscastle Painscastle (Welsh: ''Castell-paen'') is a village and community in Powys (formerly Radnorshire), Wales which takes its name from the castle at its heart. It lies between Builth and Hay-on-Wye, approximately 3 miles from the Wales-England borde ...

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 ...

, Wales. 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.

Early history

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 ...

. The site was probably what remained of a much earlier

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

fort, so naturally defensible. The ground plan is rectangular and

artifacts have been found at the site. Pain fitzJohn was killed by a

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 ...

raiding party in 1137 and

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 ...

in which Painscastle stands, was taken over by the native Welsh ruler,

Madog ab Idnerth Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd (also spelled Madog) was, according to folklore, a Welsh prince who sailed to Americas, America in 1170, over three hundred years before Christopher Columbus's voyage in 1492. According to the story, he was a son of Ow ...

Recapture & Refortification

The castle remained in Welsh hands until about 1195 when the area was captured by

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 ...

, who refortified the castle. His formidable wife

Maud de Braose Maud de Braose, Lady of Bramber (c. 1155 – 1210) was an English noble, the spouse of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, a powerful Marcher baron and court favourite of King John of England. She would later incur the wrath and enmity of t ...

, also known as Matilda, held Painscastle against the Welsh for a few months.

Welsh sieges

In 1196

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 he ...

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 ...

defeated the

Marcher Lords A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in Fra ...

in a battle at Radnor 8 miles to the north and also besieged Painscastle, but did not actually take it as terms were agreed. In 1198

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 ...

raised a large army to besiege the castle, but was heavily defeated by an army led by the Justiciar,

Geoffrey fitz Peter Geoffrey Fitz Peter, Earl of Essex (c. 1162–1213) was a prominent member of the government of England during the reigns of Richard I and John. The patronymic is sometimes rendered Fitz Piers, for he was the son of Piers de Lutegareshale (born ...

. This English army formed at nearby

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 to ...

Baronial conflict

William de Braose fell out with 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 ...

in 1208 and was forced to flee the kingdom. King John held his lands and castles until Painscastle was apparently occupied by

Iorwerth Clud Iorwerth () is a Welsh name, composed of two elements: ''iôr'' meaning "lord" and ''berth'' meaning "fair", "fine", or "handsome". (Both morphemes are somewhat archaic in Modern Welsh.) The name has historically been associated with the name Edward ...

, a Welsh de Braose ally, in 1215. He submitted to King John in 1216 and was granted the Lordship of

until his death in 1222. The Welsh then transferred their allegiance back to

Llywelyn ap Iorwerth Llywelyn, Llewelyn or Llewellyn is a name of Welsh language origins. See Llywelyn (name) for the name's etymology, history and other details. As a surname Arts *Carmen Llywelyn, American actress and photographer *Chris Llewellyn (poet), American p ...

and the castle was attacked and destroyed by the Welsh.

Campaign against Llywelyn the Great

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 ...

and

Hubert de Burgh Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent (; ; ; c.1170 – before 5 May 1243) was an English nobleman who served as Justiciar, Chief Justiciar of England and Ireland during the reigns of King John, King of England, John and of his son and successor Kin ...

as part of a campaign against

Llywelyn the Great Llywelyn the Great ( cy, Llywelyn Fawr, ; full name Llywelyn mab Iorwerth; c. 117311 April 1240) was a King of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually " Prince of the Welsh" (in 1228) and "Prince of Wales" (in 1240). By a combination of war and d ...

. In 1233 the castle was claimed by

Ralph Tosny Raoul II de Tosny seigneur de Conches-en-Ouche (1027 - died 9 April 1102) was a Norman nobleman of the House of Tosny, son of Roger I of Tosny and older brother of Robert de Stafford / Tosny. He was active in Normandy, England and Wales. Hastin ...

, whose family held it until the castle was taken by

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1223 – 11 December 1282), sometimes written as Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, also known as Llywelyn the Last ( cy, Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, lit=Llywelyn, Our Last Leader), was the native Prince of Wales ( la, Princeps Wall ...

from Roger Tosny in 1265. Another Ralph Tosny was able to recover and rebuild it in 1276. It later passed to the Beauchamp dynasty's hands,

Earls of Warwick Earl of Warwick is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the United Kingdom. The title has been created four times in English history, and the name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick. Overview The first creation ...

Owain Glyndŵr

Painscastle 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 while under the Beauchamps for the King, Henry IV.

Today

Little now remains of the castle other than the massive earthworks.

External links

Painscastle on castlewales.com
{{coord, 52, 06, N, 3, 13, W, region:GB_type:city, display=title Castles in Powys Castle ruins in Wales Kingdom of Gwynedd Gothic architecture in Wales