Penkelly Castle

Penkelly Castle is a badly ruined masonry castle situated in the private gardens of Penkelly House, which runs a small holiday park adjacent. The site occupies the south-western bank of the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal, which was diverted to go around the property, but in doing so excavated away part of the old castle site. Immediately to the south is the rough gully housing another, unnamed, watercourse, meaning that on three sides the castle had strong natural defences. Prior to the canal being built, the castle looked out over the low lying lands about the confluence of the Nant Manascin and the River Usk. Today the castle site cannot be seen from any public roads or footpaths.

The castle almost certainly dates to the late 11th century, when the Normans were advancing into this area of Wales. Roger de Baskerville, a Gloucestershire knight who accompanied Bernard de Neufmarché in his invasion of Brycheiniog between 1088 and 1095, was rewarded with the lordship of Penkelly and lived well into the reign of King Henry I, last appearing on record in 1127. Roger had two sons, Bernard and Hugh, and Hugh had two sons, Robert and Walter, but Bernard, Hugh and Walter had all become monks by 1157, when the lordship of Penkelly was in the hands of Ralph de Baskerville, the son and heir of Roger’s older brother Robert. It is not clear what happened to Hugh’s son Robert. Ralph was very long-lived, surviving until 1186, and was followed as lord of Penkelly by his younger brother, a second Roger. This Roger had died by 1199, leaving a daughter, Alice, as his heiress. It is at the death of the second Roger that Penkelly left the hands of the Baskervilles, and became a property of the Wafre family, Alice having married Robert le Wafre. In 1215, the castle was taken by Reginald de Braose in his rebellion against King John, and in1233, the castle was taken by the Welsh during the rebellion of Richard Marshall, which required substantial repairs. Robert was the first of three bearing that name, the third leaving only a daughter, Lucy, who married Roger Mortimer of Chirk. It was probably seized again by the Welsh in 1262, but had been recovered by Mortimer by 1273. The castle had been seized for King Edward II in 1322 during the Despenser war, and appears to have fallen into decay afterwards. Roger Mortimer himself died of his injuries in the Tower of London in 1326.

At it’s height, the castle was an impressive structure, with a large square stone keep surrounded by a ditch. This may have incorporated an earlier motte, or replaced it, but what is clear is that the keep occupied only part of the inner enclosure, which measured perhaps 30 metres by 20. Remnants of this keep can still be seen today including footings and broken fragments containing evidence of stairs and other features consistent with a 13th century date. It is therefore conceivable that the defences of the Baskerville castle were primarily of timber and the earthworks. Around the outer enclosure was a stone wall with at least two round towers (a third may have been lost to the canal) and a twin-towered gatehouse. Within this enclosure was a large chapel, dedicated to St Leonard, and it is this building which has been adapted and much extended to form the main house today, baring a datestone of 1583, and reused masonry from the castle ruin. In the reign of Henry VII, circa 1494/95, the property was acquired by Sir Richard Herbert of Montgomery, the nephew of the first Herbert earl of Pembroke. It was either Richard or his son Edward who substantially remodelled the chapel into a new grand house, although the ruins of the castle stood impressively into the 18th century when they were drawn by Nathaniel Buck. Considerable destruction has taken place since then, with little publicly visible to recall this monument to mind.

Pencelli Castle Campsite official website (history page)