England · Restored
Snodhill Castle
Snodhill Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey castle in west Herefordshire with substantial medieval stone fortifications clustered on a steep natural mound. Built from the 11th century and remodeled in later medieval centuries, it includes a multangular masonry keep with drum towers, curtain walls and a royal chapel. The site has been archaeologically investigated and repaired and is open to the public.
Its prime
1405
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1405
The shape it held in its prime.
A steep, grass-covered motte topped by a substantial multangular stone keep whose base is roughly thirteen-sided, changing above to an irregular ten-sided profile; a solid, drum-shaped tower abuts the southwest face. Weathered grey-brown coursed stone, lichen-streaked, composes the keep and surviving curtain walls that define a small triangular inner bailey with terraces. Arched gateway with an intact arch-head and a vertical groove for a portcullis punctuates the west approach; no roofs survive on the outer walls in the photo but the keep is pictured as a complete masonry tower at its prime.
Its story
The story of Snodhill Castle.
Snodhill was among the first Norman castles in England to have stone-built fortifications, raised in the 11th century to secure the border between Norman England and the Welsh princes. The whole border area from Chepstow to Shropshire was parcelled up by William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, and Snodhill was granted to Hugh L'Asne before FitzOsbern's death in 1071. On L'Asne's death in 1101 it passed by marriage to Robert de Chandos I.
The Chandos family held and developed the castle until the 15th century — the site grew a multangular masonry keep with drum towers, curtain walls and a royal chapel. When Chandos died without an heir in 1428 his holdings were inherited by the Beauchamps, relatives of his wife; the castle was briefly held by Richard Neville, 'Warwick the Kingmaker', passed through the marriage of Anne Beauchamp to Richard of York, later Richard III, and was granted by Elizabeth I to Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester.
By the mid-17th century the manor and castle had gone into the hands of the Prosser family and their relatives the Powells, who held the property until it was sold in 1940. Recorded as being in decay in the mid-16th century, the castle passed in 2013 on a 999-year lease to Historic England to enable repairs, and since 2016 the lease has been held by the Snodhill Castle Preservation Trust; the repaired site is open to the public.
Step inside
8 places to explore in 1405.
The record describes 8 distinct spots at Snodhill Castle — including 2 interiors: keep interior — ground-level masonry chambers, royal free chapel — interior. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Snodhill Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1405 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Snodhill Castle.
The families that held Snodhill Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
L'Asne
Granted to Hugh L'Asne before 1071; held until his death in 1101.
Chandos
Held and developed by the Chandos family from 1101 until 1428.
Beauchamp
Inherited by the Beauchamps, relatives of Chandos's wife, in 1428.
Prosser
The Prossers and their Powell relatives held Snodhill from the mid-17th century until it was sold in 1940.
