Wales · Restored
Roch Castle
Roch Castle is a 13th-century stone castle at Roch near Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales, built around 1200 on a rocky outcrop. It was burned in 1644, restored in the early 20th century, and extensively restored and converted into a hotel in the 21st century.
Its prime
1640
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1640
The shape it held in its prime.
Sits atop a low jagged limestone outcrop, the castle presents a compact multi-storey rectangular keep of grey-brown rubble stone with small rectangular windows and a crenellated parapet. A taller, smooth white-painted tower abuts the stone keep, rising with narrow vertical slits and a flat roof with a flagpole. A low coursed-stone boundary wall and a curved paved approach road lead up to the rock; at its prime the fabric and battlements were complete and intact.
Its story
The story of Roch Castle.
Roch Castle was built around 1200 by the Norman knight Adam de Rupe, probably on the site of an earlier wooden structure — roche being the usual French word for rock. Raised on a rocky outcrop near Haverfordwest at the same time as Pill Priory, it probably served as one of the outer defences of "Little England", close to the unmarked Landsker border that has for centuries separated the English and Welsh areas of Pembrokeshire.
After the de Rupe line died out in the 15th century, the castle came in the 17th century to the Walter family. Their daughter Lucy, born in the castle, became a courtesan of Charles II and bore him an acknowledged son, James, 1st Duke of Monmouth. In the Civil War the Walters declared for Charles I; the castle changed hands twice before Parliamentary forces captured it a second time and burned it in 1644. Monmouth himself was later beheaded after his failed rebellion, in July 1685.
The castle lay decaying until 1900, when John Philipps, 1st Viscount St Davids, restored it with a steel frame and new concrete floors to designs by D. E. Thomas of Haverfordwest, with further works to about 1918–20. Purchased in 2008 by Keith Griffiths, it was restored again to designs by Griffiths and Acanthus Holden and reopened in 2013 as an award-winning hotel.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1640.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Roch Castle — including the full exterior approach. 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 Roch Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1640 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Roch Castle.
The families that held Roch Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
de Rupe
Built by Adam de Rupe c.1200; the family held it until the line died out in the 15th century.
Walter
Held by the Walter family in the 17th century, until they fled its capture and burning in 1644.
Philipps
Purchased and restored from 1900 by John Philipps, 1st Viscount St Davids.
