Pennard Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Penard; Penarth

In the community of Pennard.
In the historic county of Glamorgan (Modern authority of Swansea, preserved county of West Glamorgan).

In the early C12 Henry de Beaumont, first earl of Warwick, was granted the lordship of Gower, and it was probably he who built the ringwork castle here. It had a bank and ditch around it, and a primitive stone hall. The only traces of this early castle are the footings of the hall at the west end of the courtyard, which was probably added to the ringwork in the early C13. In the late C13 or early C14 the castle was rebuilt in stone, using local limestone and reddish sandstone, and the present-day ruins are the remains of this castle. It was probably the work of the de Braoses, who held the castle for a while in C13. The castle is small and rather crudely built. Curtain walled and towered, generally oval enclosure, 36m E-W by 28m, resting on crags to the N, having a twin-towered gateway facing E, with further towers on the W and a rectangular internal structure.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SS54428850

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Monuments Record number; 94530

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 00285w

• Web site links
  • http://www.castlewales.com/pennard.html
    http://www.explore-gower.co.uk/pennard_castle.htm
• Books
  • Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p104-5
    Reid, Alan, 1998, Castles of Wales (John Jones Publishing) p117-8
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford)
    RCAHMW, 1991, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Vol3 pt1a: The Early Castles (London: HMSO) MR6 p288-96
    Salter, Mike, 1991, The Castles of Gwent, Glamorgan and Gower (Malvern) p68
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p167
    Davis, Paul R., 1983, Castles of Glamorgan (Alun Books) p10-1
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p373
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Hague, D.B., 1971, in Pugh, T.B. (ed), Glamorgan County History Vol3 The Middle Ages (Cardiff) p444
    Grenfell, Harold E. and Morris, Bernard, 1970 (Revised 1985) The Castles of Gower (Merthyr Tydfil) p7, 14
    Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p185 [misleading]
    Morgan, W.Ll., 1899, An Antiquarian Survey of East Gower (London) p205-11
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol2 p407
• Journal Articles
  • Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Chateau Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1963, 'Early castles in Wales and the Marches: a preliminary list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol112 p77-124
    1962-3, Medieval Archaeology Vol6-7 p326
    Alcock, L., 1961, Morgannwg Vol5 p81-2 [interim excavation report]
    1960, Morgannwg Vol4 p69-70
    Clark, 1869, The Builder Vol27 p689-690