Loughor Castle - CADW - (Casllwchwr) Wales. Great Britain.
N 51° 39.757 W 004° 04.621
30U E 425508 N 5724063
Loughor Castle, Tower, Norman earthwork castle, & Roman fort.
Administered by CADW
Waymark Code: WMCXMC
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/23/2011
Views: 4
Three historic sites in one. With a history going back Approx 2000 years.
Loughor Castle is a fascinating but small site, with the partial remains of a 13th century tower built on the ruins of a Norman Earthwork Castle, itself constructed in a corner of a Roman fort.
The simple earthwork Roman fort of Leucarum was built around 75 AD to guard the lowest crossing of the River Loughor. Around 110 AD the fort was strengthened with stone walls. It was in use until the middle or late 1st century, then abandoned, before being used briefly again in the late 3rd century.
The Norman motte was constructed around 1099 by Henry Beaumont, Earl of Warwick. The initial motte was extended to create an oval ringwork castle. The castle defenses were not terribly elaborate, composed of wooden ramparts surrounding simple wooden domestic buildings. The castle was sacked by the Welsh in 1151, but it was quickly retaken by the Normans, who rebuilt and strengthened the defenses in stone.
In the early 13th century John de Braose added a low curtain wall, and his descendant, William de Braose III, added a rectangular two-storey stone tower in the late 13th century. It is this tower that is the most obvious remain at Loughor. De Braose's tower retains its fireplaces, garderobe, and several well-formed window frames. The tower was posibly built by John Iweyn, steward to William de Braose. It fell out of use after the conquest of Wales by Edward I, and gradually fell into decay, as is witnessed today.
Property page on English Heritage website: [Web Link]
I am an English Heritage Member: no
Property Address:
Castle Street, loughor, City & County of Swansea
Property maintained by:: Cadw
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