Saint Briavels Castle, 1066 to 1331

Saint Briavels Castle 1066 to 1331 by Paul Martin Remfry (M. Phil.) ISBN 1-899376-05-4 Foreword This is one more in the series of booklets being produced by the author on the castles of Wales and the Marches. These works constitute the first serious attempt to bring together the documentary and archaeological evidence concerning the many neglected castles of this ancient frontier, as well as the deeds of their occupants who once brought fame, renown and occasional cruelty to the border. Brought together here is the remaining data concerning this early masonry castle. This is then discussed in some depth in relation to other similar fortresses in Wales and the Marches. Examined in succession are the extant and hypothetical remains of the early castle which was under the control of the successive constables of Gloucester and Earls of Hereford, the later castle of King John and finally the royal fortress cum treasury of the Forest of Dean. The description of the castle remains brings to light the suggestion that the fortress has undergone many structural changes and alterations in its long and complex architectural history. Also examined is the relationship of the suggested early castle at Saint Briavels with similar keep and enclosure sites in the borderlands, a line of inquiry which is taken up again in the monograph, Ten Castles of Radnor Lordship, 1066 to 1304. It only remains to add that it is hoped that you will enjoy reading this work, and that it will add to your enjoyment of this fine castle at Saint Briavels. Paul Remfry is 31 and has lived in Malvern in the County of Hereford and Worcester for the past 26 years. He has always been interested in castles and loves the border history of this area. He studied history at Aberystwyth University College of Wales between 1981 and 1984 and in 1989 obtained a Master of Philosophy Degree by Thesis on the Welsh Dynasties of Rhwng Gwy a Hafren (roughly equates to the old county of Radnor) and their Middle March castles. He is a member of the Castle Studies Group and has been involved with the Woolhope Archaeological Section for some four years now. Currently he is a selfemployed computer consultant and has been embarked on the project of surveying and reporting the history of the myriad of castles along the Welsh frontier for the past 15 years. This booklet is part of that continuing project. Money raised from the sale of these works is used to fund further research. Saint Briavels Castle 1066 to 1331 Contents The Castle under the Earls of Hereford, 1066 to 1155 ................................... 1 Royal Saint Briavels in the Twelfth Century, 1155 to 1199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Saint Briavels to the fall of Edward II, 1199 to 1327 ..................................... 2 The Building of the First Castle at St Briavels, 1075 to 1199 .............................. 5 King John's Castle in the Thirteenth Century, 1199 to 1292 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 The Edwardian Conversion, 1292 to 1294 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Appendix, The Earls of Hereford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Glossary Bailiff Barbican Bartizan Batter Berm Chisel Marks Commote Curtain Demesne Diagonal Tooling Enceinte Forebuilding Hundred Knight's Fee Marcher Lordship Peel Pipe Roll Plinth Quarrel Scarp Vill An officer who manages an estate for another An outer defence for the entrance to a castle gateway Small turret corbelled out from the enceinte Sloping, or splayed, bottom of a wall Flat area between the enceinte and the scarp Marks left by chiselling at stone, assumed to be post Norman Welsh administrative land unit, commonly equated to a Hundred Wall enclosing the ward of a castle Land held by a lord in his own hand A method of cutting stone, assumed to be Norman Main stone defensive structures of a ward, ie. curtain & towers Defensive building controlling entrance to a keep English administrative land unit subject to royal justice Land held by service of providing a knight in time of war Land held in chief of the king, but separate of royal justice Primarily a wooden palisaded enclosure, but corrupted into the Peel-House of the Scottish Borders Exchequer account of the Shires Projecting base of a wall Crossbow bolt Steeply sloping ground like the face of a ditch Norman Hamlet originally equivalent to a manor, later a parish ISBN 1-899376-05-4 Copyright 1994 by Paul Martin Remfry. First Published December 1994 Produced and Published by SCS Publishing 31 Richmond Road, Malvern Link, Worcester, WR14 1NE Saint Briavels Castle 1066 to 1331 The Castle under the Earls of Hereford, 1066 to 1155 The castle remains at St Briavels stands upon a low polygonal mound set high on a spur overlooking the River Wye which occupies the valley bottom some 1½ miles and 650 feet below. This high position gives spectacular views both down to the Wye and across it into the hills of Gwent. Viewed from the river the castle must have presented an impressive vista on the skyline. No evidence has been produced for the time of the first fortification of the site, but the town does have a long history. In the Post-Roman period this area appears to have been associated with the Celto-Irish saint, Brioc*1, and from this we can presume occupation from that time onwards. The church which stands just west of the castle has been dedicated, or re-dedicated, to St Mary and is alleged to have masonry from the eleventh century in the south and west walls of its nave. By 1067 the Forest of Dean, along with St Briavels and Lydney, had been transferred to William Fitz Osbern, the powerful Earl of Hereford (1066-1071). There is no indication of an early castle at St Briavels, and indeed the site here is quite dissimilar to Fitz Osbern's known border castles, viz Chepstow, Monmouth, Clifford and Wigmore. William the Conqueror was hunting in the Forest of Dean when he heard of the descent of the Danes on the east coast in 1069*2. This shows that the king may well have heard of St Briavels, but little beyond that. At Domesday the vill was apparently known as Little Lydney, and it was under this name that Fitz Osbern granted lands here to Lire Abbey in Figure 2, Stone enclosure castles mentioned in the text France*3. St Briavels' early tenure in the hands of the Earls of Hereford proved short and ended with Roger of Breteuil's abortive rebellion of 1075*4. From this time until 1141 St Briavels was held by the royal bailiffs of the Forest of Dean, of which the castle seems to have soon become the administrative centre. This probably took place under the control of Walter Durand, the Sheriff of Gloucester, and then undoubtedly under his son and heir, Miles of Gloucester (c.1126-43). The castle was in existence by 1129-30 when Miles spent £13 5s 7d on a knight, porter and watch at Saint Briavels (Castelli de Sancta Bridvelle)*5. It is unfortunate that only this one Pipe Roll has come down to us from the reign of Henry I. Otherwise a better understanding of the construction dates of many of the royal castles may have been *1 Coplestone-Crow, B., 'The Dual Nature of the Irish Colonization of Dyfed in the Dark Ages', Studia Celtica 16/17 [1981-2], 19-22. Ordericus Vitalis, Historia Ecclesiastica, ed. and trans. M. Chibnall, Oxford Medieval Texts [6 vols., Oxford, 1969-80] II, 25. Robert Abbot of Lire died here in 1272. His monument may still be seen in the church. Much useful work has been done on St Briavels in the last fifty years. Where no reference is given in the text from here on these works are being quoted from direct, viz. Brown, R.A., Colvin, H.M., & Taylor, A.J. (eds.), History of the King's Works [4 vols., 1963], 821-3; Curnow, PE., & Johnson EA., 'St Briavels Castle', Chateau Gaillard [1984] XII, 91-114; St Briavels Castle - Handbook for Teachers, [English Heritage, 1995]. *4 See Remfry, P.M., Clifford Castle, 1066 to 1299 [Malvern, 1995], 1 for the Earls of Hereford. *5 Pipe Roll 31 Henry I, 1130-1, 77. *2 *3 1