A-Z Challenge 2012 - K
Kidwelly Castle
The Norman castle
of Kidwelly overlooks the River
Gwendraeth and the town of Kidwelly in
Carmarthenshire, Wales.
Developed over more than three centuries of warfare the castle’s outer
half-moon, towered walls stand on the Norman earthwork. Inside is the first
stone stronghold with four round towers at each corner with the great stone
gatehouse in the south outer wall.
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| Kidwelly Castle - 2001 |
The original 12th century timber
castle was defended on one side by the river and a deep crescent ditch to the
landward. Its strategic position defended the road to west Wales. The
castle fell to the Welsh several times during the 12th and 13th
centuries. At the end of the 13th century Henry, Earl of Lancaster
built the inner rectangular stronghold with its four round towers. The great
gatehouse took over a century to complete and was unfinished when Owen
Glyndwr’s Welsh troops attacked in 1403. King Henry V ensured that the damaged
gatehouse was rebuilt. Its design is such that it could be defended even if the
rest of the castle was taken.
 |
| The Great Gatehouse, Kidwelly Castle - 2008 |
The end of the 15th century saw the addition of
a new great hall at the west of the outer ward and a connecting kitchen within
the inner ward. Another building and a bakehouse were added, possibly by Rhys
ap Thomas who had been granted the castle by King Henry VII. The castle played
a minor role in the Civil War as it lay far way from the main areas of the
struggle.
The formidable history of the castle and
especially the gatehouse gives approaching visitors the feeling of being
watched; they may even meet the glowering ghost of a medieval sentry its dark
recesses.
It is even suggested that the headless
spirit of brave Gwenllian, Wales'
best-loved warrior princess, stalks the grounds of Kidwelly Castle
and the bloody battlefield upon which she was killed in 1136.
Gwenllian is not the female to
haunt the area. Spudder’s Bridge over the River Gwendraeth is known as the
Bridge of the White Spirit. The Norman lover of Nest, the daughter of the
castle’s owner, was killed and thrown into the river by an assassin. Nest
jumped in as well and drowned. Her spirit is said to return to the scene of the
tragedy.
Hilary Melton-Butcher's Castle yesterday was J - Johnstown Castle, Wexford, Eire
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