Clun Castle
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Clun Castle is a ruined castle in the small town of Clun, Shropshire (grid reference SO298809). It is owned by the Duke of Norfolk (who also holds the title of Baron Clun) and is managed by English Heritage.
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[edit] History
The castle was originally established by Robert Picot de Say, an early Norman baron, as a substantial motte castle with two baileys. Robert de Say held the castle and district from the Earl of Shrewsbury until 1102. After the shrewsbury rebellion of that year Picot and his descendants held directly from the Crown. The area surrounding the castle was a Marcher Barony, known in the 13th century as the Honour of Clun (Colunwy in Welsh), which meant it was governed by its own laws and Marcher Lord who controlled this section of the Welsh Marches.
Picot's daughter married Cadwgan ap Bleddyn. In 1109 Cadwgan was forced out of Powys and it is possible that he lived at Clun castle during this time. The couple had a son, Henry ap Cadwgan and it is possible that he was one and the same as Henry de Say who married an illegitimate daughter of King Henry I. Their son, Hellias de Say was lord of Clun during the Anarchy of the reign of King Stephen. During the Anarchy the barony of Say seems to have been divided, with Isabella de Say receiving Clun. This in 1199 passed to her son William Fitz Alan.
There is an erroneous story that in 1196 the castle was besieged by the Welsh under Prince Rhys ap Gruffydd, a Prince of the Welsh Kingdom of Deheubarth. This story is a confusion with Colwyn Castle in Radnorshire. William Fitz Alan was present with King Richard I at the building of Chateau Gaillard in Normandy and it would seem that on returning home he rebuilt Clun castle to mimic 'the saucy castle' of King Richard. William died in 1210 and in 1215 his son John Fitz Alan seized the castle from the hands of King John. In 1233 the castle was garrisoned by the crown and successfully saw off an attack by Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth.
During a period of minority the castle was held by Roger Mortimer of Wigmore Castle. On Roger’s death in 1282 his widow, Matilda Braose, expelled the castellan and ridiculed the sheriff of Shropshire from the castle’s battlements - much to the amusement of King Edward I who ordered the sheriff to cease molesting her!
In the 14th century the castle was transformed into a hunting lodge by the Fitz Alan family, successive holders of the title Earl of Arundel, who had a horse stud here. They were probably responsible for the great keep which towers down the side of the motte to the north. In the wars of Owain Glyndŵr the earl of Arundel again fortified Clun Castle and the castle saw some service against the rebels. The castle was in ruins by the time of the English Civil War of 1642 and never saw action.
In 1894, the site was purchased by the Duke of Norfolk, a descendant of the original FitzAlan family.
[edit] The ruins
Today the masonry castle stands upon a great artificial enhanced motte or mound [1]. On the highest point of the mound are the remains of one wall of what appears to have been a small square keep, probably of 11th century or 12th century date [2]. South of this is the site of the gatehouse, while the foundations of a great round tower can be seen to the south-west. Along the west front are the remains of two solid turrets, built in possible imitation of Chateau Gaillard. The remains of the eighty foot tall, four storey rectangular great keep are still standing on the north side of the motte. Two baileys exist to the east and a pleasure garden can still be made out in the field beyond the River Clun to the west.
[edit] External links
- Clun Castle on Castles of Wales
- Anglo-Norman Castles
- BBC Shropshire - 360 degree panorama of Clun Castle
[edit] References
- Remfry, P.M., Clun Castle, 1066 to 1282 (ISBN 1-899376-00-3)
- Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, The David & Charles Book of Castles, David & Charles, 1980. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3
