Welsh Journals

Search over 450 titles and 1.2 million pages

THE CASTLE AND LORDSHIP OF NARBERTH By Neil Ludlow Narberth Castle, Pembrokeshire (NGR SN 1098 1440), is a compact castle of medium size lying at the tip of a steep-sided spur. Its masonry defences, represented today by the very fragmentary remains of a masonry curtain wall and four cylindrical corner towers, are characteristic of the mid-late 13th century. Inside are the remains of two domestic buildings, probably from c.1300. The underlying earthworks possibly relate to the initial foun- dation of the castle in c. 1100, and may include an outer ward. The castle has long been neglected, both physically, as a monument, and academically, as a topic for study. There is, for example, no proper up- to-date account of its history. Its medieval history has been subject to some analysis but much of the earlier work is somewhat questionable and led by dubious secondary sources. Neither has a detailed description of the castle been published. The survey of 1539, an invaluable docu- ment which describes the then structure of the castle, is reproduced in RCAHMW Inventory of 1925 (Appendix 1), and was discussed in rela- tion to the remains in a short account published by Harrison in 1962.' A fairly detailed, but unpublished account occurs in the field notebooks of the late David Cathcart King.2 This paper is an attempt to redress some of that neglect. It results from survey and research undertaken, for Pembrokeshire County Council, by Cambria Archaeology (Dyfed Archaeological Trust) in 1996. It includes a synthesis of the known primary sources, and the more reliable secondary source material, in particular the recent work undertaken by Ron Walker.3 The Early Castle Early traditions The foundation of Narberth Castle is popularly attributed to a 'Sir Stephen Perrot' in 1092. This tradition was first mentioned by Fenton in 1811.4 It subsequently gained wide currency being repeated by, inter alia, Lewis, RCAHMW,6 King,7 and Soulsby8 and thus assumed a degree of respect- ability. It appears, however, to be entirely without foundation and is sup- ported by none of the primary sources. There is no authentic pedigree for either this Stephen Perrot or his alleged grandson Sir Andrew Perrot, and