Skenfrith Castle

The Normans established Skenfrith in the wake of the 1066 conquest to protect the route from Wales to Hereford, possibly on the orders of William fitz Osbern, Earl of Hereford — one of a triangle of earth-and-timber fortifications in the Monnow valley. After the major Welsh revolt of 1135, King Stephen brought Skenfrith together with Grosmont and White Castle to form the lordship of the 'Three Castles', which defended the region for centuries.

Rebuilt in stone at the end of the 12th century, the castle was given by King John in 1201 to his powerful official Hubert de Burgh, and over the following decades passed back and forth between Hubert, the rival de Braose family and the Crown. Hubert levelled the old castle and raised the present polygonal fortification of Old Red Sandstone, with round towers, a circular keep and a water-filled moat fed by the river.

In 1267 Skenfrith was granted to Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, and remained with the earldom, later duchy, of Lancaster until 1825. Edward I's conquest of Wales in 1282 stripped the castle of much of its military purpose, and by the 16th century it lay in ruin. Placed in state care by the National Trust in 1936, it is now managed by Cadw.