England · Ruin
Longtown Castle
Longtown Castle (also recorded as Ewias Lacey) is a ruined Norman motte-and-bailey castle in Longtown, Herefordshire. The site retains a prominent circular stone keep, fragments of curtain wall and an inner gatehouse; it is managed by English Heritage as a scheduled monument.
Its prime
1200
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1200
What Longtown Castle looked like in its prime.
Sited on high ground beside the River Monnow, the castle in its prime comprised a 10-metre motte and an unusual rectangular bailey complex divided into three parts. Dominating the motte stood a circular stone great tower (keep) with three evenly spaced external turrets and walls up to about 5 metres thick, built of sandstone rubble with cut ashlar detailing. Stone curtain walls enclosed the inner western bailey and a simple inner gatehouse with two small flanking turrets and a portcullis protected the approach; outer earthwork banks lay to north and south.
Its story
The story of Longtown Castle.
Longtown Castle, Ewias Lacey in early accounts, was established in the 11th century by Walter de Lacy, reusing former Roman earthworks in Herefordshire. Gilbert de Lacy rebuilt it in stone after 1148 and established the adjacent town to help pay for the work. The de Lacy family controlled it until Walter de Lacy's death in 1234, when John Fitzgeoffrey acquired it amid rising tension between the Welsh princes Llywelyn the Great and Dafydd ap Llywelyn and the English marcher lords.
The castle reverted to the de Lacys through the inheritance of Margery de Lacy, then descended through the de Verdun barons, Edward I temporarily confiscated it from Theobald de Verdun, until the second Theobald died in 1316 without surviving male heirs and it passed via his daughter Elizabeth to her husband Bartholomew Burghersh. In 1369 it went to the Despensers and then the Beauchamps, neither of whom used the declining castle.
The Nevilles acquired the property in the 15th century, and it remained in the control of the Lords of Abergavenny until the 1970s, when the Ministry of Works took it on. Pressed briefly back into use during the Owain Glyndŵr rising of 1403, it had long since fallen into ruin; the circular stone keep, curtain-wall fragments and inner gatehouse are today maintained by English Heritage as a tourist attraction.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1200.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Longtown Castle, including 1 interior: great hall on the keep's first floor. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Longtown Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1200, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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Clans who held Longtown Castle.
The families that held Longtown Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
de Lacy
Established by Walter de Lacy in the 11th century; held by the de Lacys until 1234 and again by inheritance.
de Verdun
Held by the de Verdun barons until Theobald de Verdun's death in 1316.
Neville
Acquired by the Nevilles in the 15th century; with the Lords of Abergavenny until the 1970s.
