Carew Castle. Pembrokeshire National Park, Wales, UK . Horizontal landscape, 84251_Carew Castle
The castle stands on a limestone bluff overlooking the Carew inlet. The site must have been recognised as strategically useful from the earliest times, and recent excavations have discovered multiple defensive walls of an Iron Age fort. The Norman castle has its origins in a stone keep built by Gerald de Windsor around the year 1100. Gerald was made castellan of Pembroke Castle by Arnulf of Montgomery in the first Norman invasion of Pembrokeshire. He married Nest, princess of Deheubarth around 1095. Nest brought the manor of Carew as part of her dowry, and Gerald cleared the existing fort to build his own castle on Norman lines. The original outer walls were timber, and only the keep was of stone. This still exists in the later structure as the "Old Tower". Gerald's son William took the name "de Carew", and in the middle of the 12th century created an enclosure with stone walls incorporating the original keep, and a "Great Hall" inside it. The current high-walled structure with a complex of rooms and halls around the circumference was created by Nicholas de Carew around 1270. At this time, the outer ward was also walled in. The de Carews fell on hard times in the post-Black Death period and mortgaged the castle. It fell into the hands of Rhys ap Thomas, who made his fortune by strategically changing sides and backing Henry Tudor just before the battle of Bosworth. Rewarded with lands and a knighthood, he extended the castle with luxurious apartments with many Tudor features in the late 15th century. An inner doorway is decorated with three coats of arms: those of Henry VII, his son Arthur and Arthur's wife Catherine of Aragon. This allegiance turned sour. Rhys's grandson Rhys ap Gruffudd fell out of favour and was executed by by Henry VIII for treason in 1531. In 1558 The castle was acquired by John Perrott, who made the final substantial extension, building the long range of rooms in domestic architecture attached to the outside of the north walls.
Size: 5100px × 3400px
Location: Carew, Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK
Photo credit: © Daniel Valla FRPS / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 13, age, ancient, battlement, carew, castle, century, chateau, de, feodal, fortification, fortress, galles, heritage, king, maredydd, medieval, moyen, pays, pembrokeshire, scenic, tourism, tourist, tower, welsh
