England · Ruin
Ewyas Harold Castle
Ewyas Harold Castle was a motte-and-bailey castle in the village of Ewyas Harold in Herefordshire, England. A priory was founded within the bailey in 1100; the site was refortified in the early 15th century and had fallen to earthwork ruin by 1645. Today only the motte and associated earthworks remain on the village edge.
Its prime
1415
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1415
What Ewyas Harold Castle looked like in its prime.
A large, conical grassy motte dominates the site, its steep slopes covered in grass, scrub and scattered tree growth; no standing masonry is visible. The motte rises directly from surrounding pasture with a simple fence at its base, and the flattened bailey spreads out around one side where the priory once stood. The silhouette is a rounded earthen mound against sky, with village roofs glimpsed at the edge of the site.
Its story
The story of Ewyas Harold Castle.
The Castle Before the Conquest, Destroyed in 1052
The first castle here is believed to be one of the very few raised under the Saxons before the Norman Conquest. It was likely put up in 1048, possibly by Osbern Pentecost, on the site of an earlier fortification, probably a Saxon burg of the tenth century, and it took the form of a motte and bailey overlooking the Dulas Brook. In 1052 that first castle was destroyed, either on the orders of Earl Godwin or by the Welsh in a raid.
Fitz Osbern's Rebuilding, Domesday and the Priory of 1100
Following the Conquest and the invasion of the area the castle was rebuilt by William Fitz Osbern, Earl of Hereford. The Domesday Book of 1086 records that in the jurisdiction of the castle of Ewyas Harold, Roger held of Henry three churches and a priest and 32 acres of land, rendering two sesters of honey, and that in the castle he held two messuages. In 1100 a priory was founded within the bailey.
Refortified Against Owain Glyndŵr
The castle fell into partial decay until the early fifteenth century, when it was in the possession of William Beauchamp, Lord Abergavenny, who refortified it in the face of the threat from Owain Glyndŵr. There is no record of its being attacked at that time. Owain and his various forces put their attention on strategies and opportunities elsewhere.
Ruin by 1645 and the Scheduling of 1928
The castle had fallen into ruin again by 1645, and only earthworks now remain on the edge of the village to mark where it stood. They have been protected as a scheduled monument since 26 November 1928.
Step inside
5 places to explore in 1415.
The record describes 5 distinct spots at Ewyas Harold Castle, including 1 interior: bailey with the priory. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Clans who held Ewyas Harold Castle.
The families that held Ewyas Harold Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Fitz Osbern
Rebuilt after the Norman Conquest by William Fitz Osbern, Earl of Hereford.
Beauchamp
In the possession of William Beauchamp, Lord Abergavenny, who refortified the castle against the threat from Owain Glyndŵr in the early 15th century.
