Towns and castles

In the same way that the Normans built castles to control and intimidate the local Saxon population, Edward I (1272-1307) built a string of castles in Wales in the 1280s to station permanent garrisons there after he had conquered Wales. Among these were the castles of Beaumaris, Conwy, Aberystwyth and Flint. Edward divided Wales into shires, established English courts and encouraged English people to settle. For these new settlers, and to support the English garrisons, he planted towns. Beresford identifies ten towns planted by Edward I in Wales, and in each case Edward took a personal interest. The king either assisted in the planning or lived in the towns while building was going on, and he visited them all. (Maurice Beresford, New Towns of the Middle Ages, Macmillan, 1999, p. 63)

During the Madog uprising in 1295, Edward was actually forced to take refuge in Conwy Castle and his son and successor Edward, Prince of Wales, was born in Caernarfon Castle. Even the town borough at Caernarfon was heavily fortified, with high stone walls, towers and gatehouses. (P.H. Humphries, Castles of Edward the First in Wales, HMSO, 1983)

In fact Edward I was so keen on town planning that he even called a special parliament (in 1297) to discuss this subject and gathered advisors around him.

As in Wales, castles were an important feature in the medieval landscape of the Welsh Marches. A castle needed both men who could be called upon in times of attack to support the regular, often small, garrison, as well as a supply of food, drink and other goods. Several towns were also planted beside castles in the hope of creating a place for a market and fair and of providing the over-lord with income.

There were several towns planned around castles in Herefordshire. Most of these, such as Kilpeck, are now no more than villages. When the castles became obsolete in the 16th century (or even before this period), the towns around them lost their support and failed.

In most Herefordshire castle-boroughs, the main street was laid out in a straight line from the castle and church. This holds true for Ewyas Harold, Eardisley, Kilpeck, Wigmore, Lyonshall, Brampton Bryan and Mansell Lacy. At Weobley and Huntington, the church and castle are situated at opposite ends of the town.

The only town completely surrounded by a defensive wall with fortified gates and interval towers was Hereford. In only two other towns - Richards Castle and Kilpeck - did the castle share defences with the borough. Borough banks and ditches have also been recorded at Leominster. It is uncertain in many cases if the borough bank was meant as a boundary wall or was a defensive feature. Perhaps Brampton Bryan, Huntington, Clifford and Eardisley had defences in the form of at least a bank and ditch. It is hard to imagine that the latter two, which suffered badly from Welsh raids, did not try to fortify in some manner. (Ray 1990)

Richards Castle is an excellent example of a castle-dominated town. Its origins go back to the pre-Conquest period, when Richard le Scrob, a Norman, built a motte and bailey here in the 1050s. A century later a town developed. Robert Mortimer was granted a charter for a market and fair in 1216 and a document of 1304 records over 100 burgesses living here. According to the 1377 poll tax records, 134 people were taxed. However, the exact location for this settlement is unclear. The earthworks surveyed suggest that at most 50 burgage plots were laid out. Was a new town laid out further to the west? (Ray, 1990) This is a case where archaeologists, who study the physical remains, can collaborate with historians, who concentrate on written sources, to provide a better understanding of the history of our towns and villages.

[Original author: Toria Forsyth-Moser, 2002]