Wales · Ruin
Painscastle Castle
Castell Paun
Painscastle is a medieval castle site in the village of Painscastle, Powys, Wales. The site was originally held by Pain fitzJohn, refortified several times in the 12th–13th centuries and rebuilt in stone in the 13th century. Today little survives above ground beyond massive earthworks and ditches that mark the rectangular footprint of the former castle.
Its prime
1276
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1276
What Painscastle Castle looked like in its prime.
Sited on a raised, grass-covered defensive platform above a small village, the castle occupied a clearly rectangular footprint defined by broad earthen banks and a surrounding ditch. In its prime the enclosure was lined by a continuous stone curtain wall rising from the earthworks, with a formal entrance on the approach side and enclosed open courtyard within. The ensemble sat amid open pasture and lanes, visible as a compact fortified rectangle above the surrounding fields.
Its story
The story of Painscastle Castle.
The first castle at Painscastle appears to have been built by Pain fitzJohn, whose name the village carries. The site, between Builth and Hay-on-Wye near the English border, changed hands repeatedly: it remained in Welsh hands until about 1195, when William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, captured the area and refortified the castle, his formidable wife Maud held it against the Welsh for several months.
In 1196 Rhys ap Gruffudd of Deheubarth defeated the Marcher lords in battle at Radnor, eight miles to the north, and besieged Painscastle, though terms were agreed before it fell. King John later held the lands; the Welsh de Braose ally Iorwerth Clud occupied the castle in 1215, submitted to John in 1216 and was granted the Lordship of Elfael until his death in 1222.
Ralph Tosny claimed the castle in 1233 and his family held it until Llywelyn ap Gruffudd took it from Roger Tosny in 1265; rebuilt in stone in the 13th century, it later passed to the Beauchamp Earls of Warwick. Little now survives above ground beyond the massive earthworks and ditches that mark the castle's rectangular footprint.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1276.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Painscastle Castle, including the full exterior approach. 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 Painscastle Castle.
The families that held Painscastle Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
de Braose
William de Braose refortified Painscastle about 1195; his wife Maud held it against the Welsh.
Tosny
Held by the Tosny family from 1233 until Llywelyn ap Gruffudd took it from Roger Tosny in 1265.
Beauchamp
Later passed to the Beauchamp Earls of Warwick.
Nearby
