page_title: Skenfrith Castle
section_title: 13th–17th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Skenfrith Castle / History / 13th–17th centuries
caption_attribution_description: English: Skenfrith Castlec
context_page_description: Skenfrith Castle is a ruined castle in the village of Skenfrith in Monmouthshire, Wales. The fortification was established by the Normans in the wake of the invasion of England in 1066, to protect the route from Wales to Hereford. Possibly commissioned by William fitz Osbern, the Earl of Hereford, the castle comprised earthworks with timber defences. In 1135, a major Welsh revolt took place and in response King Stephen brought together Skenfrith Castle and its sister fortifications of Grosmont and White Castle to form a lordship known as the "Three Castles", which continued to play a role in defending the region from Welsh attack for several centuries.
  At the end of the 12th century, Skenfrith was rebuilt in stone. In 1201, King John gave the castle to a powerful royal official, Hubert de Burgh. During the course of the next few decades, it passed back and forth between several owners, including Hubert, the rival de Braose family, and the Crown. Hubert levelled the old castle and built a new rectangular fortification with round towers and a circular keep.
context_section_description: In 1201, King John gave the Three Castles to Hubert de Burgh. Hubert was a minor landowner who had become John's household chamberlain when he was still a prince, and went on to become an increasingly powerful royal official once John had inherited the throne. Hubert began to upgrade his new castles, starting with Grosmont, but was captured while fighting in France. While Hubert was in captivity, King John took back the Three Castles and gave them to William de Braose, a rival of Hubert's. King John subsequently fell out with William and dispossessed him of his lands in 1207, but de Braose's son, also called William, took the opportunity presented by the First Barons' War to retake the castles.
  Once released, Hubert regained his grip on power, becoming the royal justiciar and being made the Earl of Kent, before finally recovering the Three Castles in 1219 during the reign of King Henry III. During Hubert's tenure, Skenfrith was entirely rebuilt; the old castle was levelled and a new rectangular castle with round towers and a central circular keep was constructed in its place.
  Hubert fell from power in 1232 and was stripped of the castles, which were placed under the command of Walerund Teutonicus, a royal servant; having been reconciled with the king in 1234, the castles were returned to him briefly but he fell out with King Henry III again in 1239 and they were taken back once again and assigned to Walerund. Walerund built a new chapel at the castle in 1244, and repaired the keep's roof. In 1254, Skenfrith Castle and its sister fortifications were granted to King Henry's eldest son, and later king, Prince Edward.
  The Welsh threat persisted, and in 1262 the castle was readied in response to Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd's attack on Abergavenny in 1262; commanded by its constable Gilbert Talbot, Skenfrith was ordered to be garrisoned "by every man, and at whatever cost". The threat passed without incident.
  Edmund, the Earl of Lancaster and the capitaneus of the royal forces in Wales, was given the Three Castles in 1267 and for many centuries they were held by the earldom, later duchy, of Lancaster. Little further work was carried out at Skenfrith, although repairs were carried out to the tower and gates under King Henry VI. King Edward I's conquest of Wales in 1282 had removed much of the castle's military utility, although it continued to be used as an administrative centre. By 1538, Skenfrith Castle had fallen into disuse and then into ruin; a 1613 description noted that it was "ruynous and decayed".
caption: Foundations of the hall range
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