page_title: St Briavels Castle
section_title: 14th–17th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: St Briavels Castle / History / 14th–17th centuries
caption_attribution_description: A Victorian sketch of St Briavels Castle
context_page_description: St Briavels Castle is a moated Norman castle at St Briavels in the English county of Gloucestershire. The castle is noted for its huge Edwardian gatehouse that guards the entrance.
  St Briavels Castle was originally built between 1075 and 1129 as a royal administrative centre for the Forest of Dean. During the 13th century the castle became first a favourite hunting lodge of King John, and then the primary centre in England for the manufacture of quarrels, large numbers of which were required for crossbows in medieval warfare. The castle was transferred many times between royal favourites in the 14th and 15th centuries and slowly declined in appearance and importance. St Briavels Castle became used primarily as a court and as a notorious debtors' prison, conditions being documented by the prison reformer John Howard in 1775. Following local riots and a parliamentary investigation in the 1830s, reforms in the 19th century brought an end to the castle's use as a prison.
  Extensive renovation at the turn of the 20th century allowed St Briavels Castle to be taken over as a Youth Hostel in 1948. It remains in this role today, owned by English Heritage and open to the public.
context_section_description: St Briavels Castle remained an important location in the reign of Edward II, as the Welsh Marches were a key region in the wars between the king, his favourites and various noble factions during the period. Roger d'Amory was the constable of the castle during the early years of Edward's reign. D'Amory was a royal favourite and Edward II visited the Castle several times, with an extensive renovation of the rooms and quarters occurring during this time. Around £500 was spent on the work, a substantial sum.
  D'Amory was supplanted in the king's favour by Hugh Despenser the Younger, and d'Amory fought against the king in the Despenser War of 1321-22. After the war, Edward placed the Marches under the control of the Despensers, with Hugh Despenser the Elder taking particular responsibility for St Briavels. The Despensers appointed Robert Sapy as the keeper of St Briavels and the other confiscated castles across the Marches. Violence began to break out across the region in response to the Despenser's harsh rule, and Sapy's deputy was attacked in July 1325 on his way back from St Briavels Castle to London; his eyes were torn out, his arms and legs broken and all his records and money stolen. Edward and the Despensers were deposed shortly afterwards by Edward's wife, Isabella of France. Isabella set about expanding her own lands after her victory, and took St Briavels Castle and various other royal castles into her own possession. When Isabella herself was overthrown by her son, Edward III, in 1330 the castle then reverted to the crown.
  Towards the end of the 14th century, England saw increasing conflict between the rival Yorkist and Lancastrian factions. St Briavels Castle passed back and forth between the senior nobility on either side, but without playing a major part in the conflict itself. The castle was initially given to King Edward's son Thomas, Duke of Gloucester; with the fall of Thomas from favour after his uprising against Richard II, Thomas le Despenser received a life grant of the castle in 1397, as part of his reward for serving Richard. With Thomas' own fall from power under Henry IV, the castle was then given to Henry's son, the Duke of Bedford. Henry Beauchamp, the Duke of Warwick and a close friend of Henry IV, then acquired St Briavels Castle and the Forest of Dean around 1445. William Herbert was rewarded with the castle in 1467 for his support for Edward IV and the Yorkist faction during the Wars of the Roses; he was then executed by the Lancastrian Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who took the castle for his own. Warwick died himself at the Battle of Barnet in 1471, but after being briefly held by Robert Hyet, Henry VII restored St Briavels Castle to Neville's widow, Anne Neville, 16th Countess of Warwick. With Anne's death in 1492, the castle passed into the control of Thomas Baynham.
  By this time, however, St Briavels Castle had been in a slow period of decline for many years, similar to that of several other royal castles in the region, including Bristol and Gloucester. Minor improvements were made, including various light windows added to the internal buildings in the 15th century, and extensive restyling of the chapel in the 17th century, but not to the extent of those castles successfully converted to more luxurious dwellings.
  Under James I and Charles the castle was traditionally granted to the Earls of Pembroke. By the time of the English Civil War, St Briavels Castle was held by Philip Herbert, the 4th earl and a friend of the king's. Philip Herbert sided with Parliament, however, and St Briavels' played little part in the conflict. With the Restoration and the return of Charles II to power in 1660, the castle was removed from the Earls of Pembroke and given instead to Henry, Lord Herbert of Raglan for life. After Henry's death, Duke of Beaufort was granted the property; after the disgrace of the Duke of Beaufort a few years later, the castle changed hands again, with the subsequent owners being more modest figures in English public life than had been the case in previous years.
caption: St Briavels Castle in 1823
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