Qualla: Three Castles

Three Castles: Introduction

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Davidmholmes51, CC BY-SA 4.0. After 1066, the Norman conquerors of England had a problem in the west. The Welsh would not stay conquered. So the Normans built castles, lots of them, hundreds in the end, all along the Welsh Marches. Three of these stand close together in the Monnow valley of Monmouthshire, in a triangle that controls the route from Wales to Hereford. Grosmont, Skenfrith, and White Castle. In 1135 a major Welsh revolt made the Crown reorganise the border defences. King Stephen brought the three castles together under direct royal control as a single lordship, and from that moment, for nearly seven centuries, they functioned as one thing with three locations. Today a 30-kilometre footpath called the Three Castles Walk reconnects them. The lordship is gone. The triangle remains.

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Image: Davidmholmes51 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Three Castles: The Beginning

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Hrefordexplorer, CC0. Shortly after the Norman invasion of England, William the Conqueror made his trusted lieutenant William fitz Osbern the Earl of Hereford, and Earl William pushed west into the Welsh Marches. He captured Monmouth and Chepstow, expanding the earldom's grip. Around the same time, th...

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Image: Hrefordexplorer | CC0

Three Castles: The Lordship Formed

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit C. A. Ralegh Radford; Ministry of Works, Public domain. The Welsh revolt of 1135 changed everything. The new King Stephen, facing simultaneous trouble in England and along the border, restructured the Marcher landholdings to bring key fortifications back under Crown control. Grosmont, Skenfrith, and White Castle were grouped together ...

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Image: C. A. Ralegh Radford; Ministry of Works | Public domain

Three Castles: Hubert de Burgh

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Steinsky, CC BY-SA 2.5. In 1201, King John gave the Three Castles to Hubert de Burgh, a minor landowner who had risen as John's chamberlain when John was still a prince. Hubert would become one of the most powerful royal officials in medieval England. He started his upgrades at Grosmont, rebuilding the ...

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Image: Steinsky | CC BY-SA 2.5

Three Castles: Wars, Skirmishes, Glyndwr

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit C. A. Ralegh Radford, Ministry of Works, Crown Copyright; cleaned up and labelled by Hchc2009, Public domain. In November 1233 King Henry III camped outside Grosmont with his army, hunting the rebellious Earl of Pembroke Richard Marshal. Marshal's night attack scattered the king's forces in confusion; Grosmont itself, garrisoned by the Crown's man Walerund Teutonicus, did not fall. In 12...

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Image: C. A. Ralegh Radford, Ministry of Works, Crown Copyright; cleaned up and labelled by Hchc2009 | Public domain

Three Castles: Three Castles, One Walk

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit John Lord, CC BY-SA 2.0. By the 16th century the castles had fallen into disuse. By 1613 White Castle was "ruynous and decayed." The Lancaster duchy held title without doing much to maintain the buildings. In 1825 Henry Somerset, the 6th Duke of Beaufort, bought the estate. His descendants broke it up in...

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Image: John Lord | CC BY-SA 2.0