Marcross Castle

Marcross Castle is believed to have been a defended manorial centre consisting of a defensive courtyard and hall. It was roughly square in plan, measuring about fifty metres a side, and was erected some time in the 13th/14th century. Th remnant of medieval walling is built into the rear of a barn which can be seen from the road, but the medieval wall, containing a single blocked up window, cannot, meaning that it can only be seen from inside the farmyard. Most of the site, including the levelled earthworks of the castle, is in fact now covered over with modern farm buildings.

To the south-west of the farm is Holy Trinity Church, which has features dating to the mid 12th century – the church is therefore from the same period as the walling. Between the two are the turf-covered remnants of an abandoned settlement. To the north-east of the farm are the remnants of Marcross Grange, which consisted of 14 acres of land donated to Neath Abbey by Philip de Marcross in the reign of Richard I from his knights fee. The castle therefore was sited within a linear settlement bounded at each end by church property.  Philip’s heiress daughter (or grand-daughter – his son was a second Philip) married William Butler in the mid 13th century. Marcross then passed to their son Richard, but by 1343 Marcross had been broken up as the result of a succession dispute, but the major part was in the hands of the Ann/Van family, John de Ann having apparently having married Richard’s heiress daughter. The lordship of Marcross was held from the Despensers (as a fee under the Lordship of Glamorgan and Cardiff Castle), and the de Anne family, later known as the Van family, retained Marcross into the late 17th century, the last of the family dying in 1694. It is not clear how long the castle remained in use, even as a manor, but soon after this the buildings were absorbed into Castle Farm, now known as Village Farm.

RCAHMW Coflein database entry