Category: 2016 grants

Pembroke Castle: Elite Use of Outer Ward Space

Buildings archaeologist, Neil Ludlow, gives an update of the work that has been done since the Trust funded two projects at Pembroke Castle.

Two CST-funded projects, in 2016 and 2018, looked at a late-medieval building complex in the outer ward at Pembroke Castle (Day and Ludlow 2016; Meek and Ludlow 2019). All above-ground remains of the buildings have gone, but vestiges of walling are marked here on a plan from 1787, while a drawing from 1802 appears to show a surviving doorway. The buildings were part-excavated in the 1930s, but sadly without record. However, the presence of walls, floors and stairs was noted, and a cess-pit from which was retrieved a Limoges-enamelled bronze fitting of late thirteenth/early fourteenth-century date. The wall-lines show as strong parchmarks in dry summers (see Fig. 1).

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Figure 1: Phased plan of Pembroke Castle, copyright Neil Ludlow

The spacious outer ward was added to Pembroke Castle in the 1240s-50s, and appears to have been an entirely new enclosure. It was not ditched, the limestone bedrock instead being levelled as a platform to receive the curtain walls. And a flanking tower, the so-called ‘Dungeon Tower’, had been built against the inner curtain only 20 years previously, implying that it was still a forward line of defence. Moreover, it subsumed part of the town as at Swansea (Glam.) and Ludlow (Shrops.). Geophysics by Dyfed Archaeology in 2016 suggested it was largely an empty space, perhaps intended for ‘civil’ assembly, military gatherings, pageantry/display or leisure – or perhaps all four. By the early fourteenth century, it appears to have contained a garden and it may always have been perceived as ‘gentrified’ space, rather than seeing the kind of purely functional use that is normally ascribed to outer enclosures (Ludlow 2017).

So the complex, which was clearly substantial, was interpreted as high-status and residential: taken along with the parchmark evidence, the geophysics appeared to indicate a substantial, winged hall-house, with a possible yard to the southeast conjoined with a further, smaller building. Two trenches were excavated across the winged house in 2018, by Dyfed Archaeology, revealing walling, a helical mural stair, and the cess-pit exposed in the 1930s (Fig. 2). The excavated area was limited and the full layout of the complex not revealed. Neither was close dating evidence forthcoming.

Two more trenches were dug in 2023, again by Dyfed Archaeology but this time funded by the Pembroke Castle Trust (Poucher 2025). They produced a couple of big surprises. Firstly, a cellar was revealed beneath the southern wing of the hall-house. And what had been interpreted as an open yard, to the southeast, was revealed to be another roofed building, with a lateral fireplace in its south wall (Fig. 2). The base of a further mural stair was exposed in the same wall. The physical relationships showed that this building pre-dated the winged hall-house, but close dating evidence was again slight.

Figure 2: Plan of the excavation trenches over the hall-house (adapted from Poucher 2023). The winged house to the southwest (left), overlying a cellar, appears to be secondary to the open Phase 1 Hall.

While only four small trenches have been dug, and the site is still very little understood, we can perhaps propose a conjectured sequence. Its scale and location show the house to have been an elite structure from the first. On current evidence, it appears to have begun as a large, free-standing hall, with an attached, storeyed unit at its southwest end overlying a barrel-vaulted cellar; the latter is of a regional form similar to late-medieval cellars that still survive below properties in Pembroke town. This end unit was subsequently replaced with, or adapted into, a winged house that was apparently self-contained: it appears to have comprised a central space (another hall?), associated with the cess-pit and flanked by storeyed wings; the upper floor of the southern wing was accessed via a helical stair.

Comparison with similar buildings, and the sparse dating evidence, suggests both phases are fifteenth-century. By this time, the domestic buildings in the inner ward had a history of neglect, coupled with an increasing burden of administrative and penal machinery. The outer bailey was both quieter and emptier, and had perhaps always seen ‘elite’ forms of use, with at least one garden (later two); understandably, it might have been preferred for seigneurial residence. A similar development occurred in another caput castle, at Montgomery, where a mansion house was built in the outer enclosure during the 1530s.

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And the Pembroke house appears not to have sat in isolation. The south curtain wall has, at some period, been doubled in thickness with over two metres of masonry applied to its internal face (Fig. 3). This has long been regarded as a Civil War measure against artillery (see King 1978, 120), but an earth fill was normally chosen for this purpose, while the thin-walled mural passage lies on the exposed external face. I suggest this thickening belongs instead to the fifteenth century, to create a broad ‘promenade’ at parapet level. The use of parapets as promenades has been suggested at a number of castles, from the twelfth century onwards: they provided a viewpoint from which a lord could show off his domain to distinguished guests, while offering scope for high-status recreational use – particularly by women. The Pembroke parapet is approached by two staircases in the thickened section, both of a somewhat ‘processional’ nature. One, a mural stair, is long and straight, while the second wraps around the Henry VII Tower as a double flight of persuasively late-medieval form, and was clearly designed to be seen; it is not obviously military (Figs. 1 and 3). Lying immediately south of the house, it is accompanied by a second ornamental feature – a projecting porch, leading to a latrine within the wall-thickening. This porch, like the thickening, has traditionally been assigned to the Civil War period (King 1978, 94 and n. 75), but in overall form it is not unlike the corbelled oriels seen in later fifteenth-century domestic work (Figs. 1 and 3). Though substantially restored, all these features respect surviving physical evidence; together with a second garden mentioned in a source from 1481-2, they appear to represent a prestige suite of ‘eye-catchers’, clustered around and associated with the hall-house. It is likely, too, that use of the latrine itself was restricted by status and/or gender. The infilling of the inner ward ditch may belong to the same period, to create more seigneurial space.

Figure 3: The outer curtain wall from northwest, showing the double flight of stairs around the Henry VII Tower, to left, and the latrine porch at centre. The parchmarks of the hall-house are visible at bottom left.

Three candidates had the resources to build on this scale. It is possible that the Phase 1 hall was built by Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, earl of Pembroke 1413-47, for his personal use. His political influence was in decline by 1441, and he may have intended to use Pembroke as a regular residence, far from his powerful opponents: he appears to have already built a smaller hunting-lodge for himself, just over the river from the castle at Monkton. If so, it is possible that the Phase 2 winged house was added by Jasper Tudor, soon after he acquired the earldom in 1452, in anticipation of occasional visits and to announce his ‘arrival’ among the leading aristocracy. It might not, however, allow enough time for the promenade to be built: after 1454, and until 1461, the Wars of the Roses forced him into more-or-less permanent residence at Pembroke, but in an environment that may militate against such overtly domestic work. Jasper seems moreover to have rarely visited Pembroke after the war, when he concentrated on his favoured castles at Sudeley and Thornbury in Gloucestershire. It may then be that the winged house and promenade were added by the Yorkist leader William Herbert the elder, who held Jasper’s forfeit lands between 1461 and 1469. His work at Raglan in Monmouthshire, where the castle was transformed into a magnificent palace, shows him to have been an ambitious builder.

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References

Day, A. and Ludlow, N., 2016 ‘Pembroke Castle Geophysical Survey 2016’ (report by Dyfed Archaeological Trust for the Castle Studies Trust: see –

http:/castlestudiestrust.org/docs/Pembroke_Castle_Geophysical%20_Survey_FINAL.pdf).

King, D. J. C., 1978 ‘Pembroke Castle’, Archaeologia Cambrensis 127, 75-121.

Ludlow, N., 2017 ’Medieval Britain and Ireland, Fieldwork Highlights in 2016: Pembroke Castle outer ward – gentrified space and Tudor Mansion?’, Medieval Archaeology 61/2, 428-35.

Ludlow, N., forthcoming ‘Two baronial castles in Pembrokeshire: Picton and Pembroke’, Journ. British Archaeological Association 178.

Meek, J. and Ludlow, N., 2019 ‘Pembroke Castle: archaeological evaluation, 2018’ (report by Dyfed Archaeological Trust for the Castle Studies Trust: see – http://www.castlestudiestrust.org/docs/Pembroke_Castle_Evaluation_2018_FINAL.pdf.

Poucher, P., 2025 ‘Pembroke Castle: archaeological evaluation, 2023’ (report by Heneb – Dyfed Archaeology, report no. 2023-33).

Caus Castle: Unfulfilled Elite Ambitions

Dr Michael Fradley, project lead for the CST funded project on Caus Castle in Shropshire examines one of the main interesting aspects of the project.

Looking back on our work at Caus Castle in Shropshire, funded by the Castle Studies Trust, one of the most interesting elements identified was the post-medieval redevelopment of the site. Given how little field research had taken place prior to our work in 2016, there were many new observations to be made, but the creation of ornamental gardens on the south slopes of the hill hinted at ambitions to develop a new elite landscape.

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At its medieval height, the Corbet family had constructed an extensive castle complex, with views from the motte, great hall and southern wing of the castle bailey looking out across the wide Rea Valley to their hunting forests of the Stiperstone Hills. While these views would still have been important, archaeologically we can see a shift in investment into creating an immediate garden landscape on the sunny, southern-facing slopes of the castle. The shift away from the monumental defences that defined the medieval castle is demonstrated physically through the infilling of the southern ditch of the castle bailey to create a probable broad planting terrace (Fig 1). It seems probable that this process of creating an ornamental landscape at Caus began in the 16th or earlier 17th century, possibly under the Staffords, or more likely under Joan Thynne and her son Thomas.

Figure 1

The use of a digital photogrammetric model of the castle, using imagery collected by a drone-mounted camera, proved invaluable in this stage in identifying that further garden features may have extended further south beyond the original bounds of the castle. A square enclosure, fragments of which had been picked up by the ground topographical survey, was clearly visible on the digital model on the southern slopes (Fig 2). While less clear in function than the garden terrace, this feature would also seem to fit within an expanding garden complex.

Figure 2

While the totality of these garden features would seem small in comparison to earlier and contemporary examples of elite gardens developed around castle sites, as well as former monastic complexes and new country houses, Caus Castle was not a central residence of the Thynne family, which centred on Longleat in Wiltshire, and should also be seen potentially as a work-in-progress as a developing ornamental landscape. If investment had continued at Caus as an elite residence, we could perhaps draw a broad analogy with the development of Powis Castle in terms of a castle revival in the 17th century, in a geographically peripheral location that ornamentally made full use of its south-facing slopes (Fig 3).

 

Figure 3

Elite investment in Caus Castle appears to have ended in the 17th century, and while we are deprived of seeing what it may have become if it an been maintained as an elite residence and associated landscape, that development would have potentially destroyed much of the evidence of the medieval and earlier evidence. This snapshot of a castle in flux in the earlier post-medieval period does, however, make the site that little bit richer archaeologically.

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Caus Castle is on private land and not open to the public

Geophysical survey at Pembroke Castle

Aerial photo of Pembroke Castle from the west, showing parchmarks (Crown Copyright RCAHMW, AP_2013_5162)

New work by Neil Ludlow and Dyfed Archaeological Trust (DAT) has revealed the remains of long-vanished buildings, and other features, at Pembroke Castle. Pembroke is famous for its large round keep, built by earl William Marshal, and a number of stone domestic buildings are preserved in the inner ward. But the large, outer ward has been an empty space since at least the eighteenth century.

In 2013, routine aerial photography, by Toby Driver of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW), revealed a number of ‘parchmarks’ in which the outlines of buried walls could be seen, as shorter grass, in the castle. He contacted Neil, who applied to the Castle Studies Trust for a grant to carry out further work at the castle. Thanks to their funding Neil, in partnership with DAT, was able to undertake a full geophysical survey of both the inner and outer wards in May 2016.

Three different methods were applied. Magnetometry, which measures magnetic variation below the ground, was carried out by DAT while Tim Southern undertook resistivity survey, which measures electrical resistance, on DAT’s behalf. Both processes can reveal buried walls and ditches and Ground Penetrating Radar, which can detect features to a depth of over 1.5 metres, was also undertaken in the outer ward, by Tim Fletcher of TF Industries Ltd..

Plans of Pembroke Castle showing the parchmarks and the results of the geophysical survey. Copyright Dyfed Archaeological Trust and TF Industries Ltd.; Crown Copyright RCAHMW.

Survey in the inner ward suggested that two or possibly three previously unknown buildings may lie beneath the grass, but they couldn’t be dated or characterised. At least one of them may, however, be connected with food preparation as neither a kitchen nor bakehouse has yet been conclusively identified at the castle, which would have been necessary to feed the people who made up the earl’s household, his retinue, and the garrison.

The results in the outer ward were outstanding – and surprising. Even allowing for later disturbance, which was slight, the area seems to have been largely empty of buildings during most of the Middle Ages – in contrast to the busy, congested scene that’s normally imagined. This area was enclosed with an impressive curtain wall and towers in the mid-thirteenth century but may always have been envisaged as an open space – for ‘civil’ assembly, for military gatherings, for pageantry and display or for leisure, or perhaps all four; a garden was certainly present by the fifteenth century, and may have been laid out around 1300-20.

Some buildings were however present. A large rectangular building M against the southwest curtain wall, and a possible smaller lean-to N against the southern curtain, are both probably medieval; was the large building for storage, or was it domestic? To account for the apparent absence of a well in the castle, a number of local stories had developed including one which involved a system of water-pipes; the discovery of a possible well, O, may solve the mystery. Most exciting of all was the confirmation that an arrangement of parchmarks G, recorded in 2013, belong to a free-standing, winged mansion-house. Its form suggests that it’s from the late fifteenth century, and it may have been the building within which King Henry VII was born, which is known to have stood in the outer ward.

A ditch formerly separated the outer ward from the inner ward, and a buried masonry structure K, opposite the inner gate, may be a bridge abutment. This ditch was possibly infilled to improve the setting of the fifteenth-century mansion, and garden. Alternatively, the infill may belong to the Civil War period (1642-48) when the castle was held against the Crown, and then against Cromwell. Two former buildings A and B, which overlay the infilled ditch, may date to the Civil War; one of them was associated with a below-ground ‘passage’ that may be a gunpowder magazine. The castle again saw military use during the Second World War, when five ‘Hall-huts’ C were built to house troops based at the castle.

While a number of the other features denote modern service trenches, some may belong to early use of the castle site. A linear feature J may represent the boundary of a burgage plot, perhaps confirming that the outer ward was laid out over part of the town; if so, some of the patchwork of smaller, formless features may also be urban in origin. Others may be hints of prehistoric occupation.

While the results show what can be achieved through geophysics – and generous grant-aid – more work is required before they can be fully understood. In particular, even limited excavation in the mansion may confirm its date and form, and suggest how the outer ward was used during the fifteenth century. The mansion seems to have contained a latrine, so with luck some good palaeoenvironmental evidence has been preserved. Pembroke is a castle of national significance, both architecturally and as a setting for major historic events: it will repay close study.

Pioneering geophysical techniques

Some of the Castle Studies Trust’s projects have made innovative use of cutting edge technology. Nick Tarr explains how a new survey technique was used this year at Pembroke Castle.

Geophysical Survey Technologies (GST) was formed to improve survey equipment for archaeologists to use in all environments including equipment suitable for use in woodlands. The equipment, ideally, should be within the financial reach of amateur groups.

The prototype survey frame resulted from research into voltage surveys (commonly called resistance surveys) where geology or other conditions are unfavourable for conventional methodology. The frame uses a commercially available data logger and power supply but has all four electrodes on a compact mobile frame which is collapsible to fit in boot of a car.

Photo ©Nick Tarr
The prototype frame in use. Photo ©Nick Tarr.

The version used at Pembroke Castle was aimed at keeping the energy from the power supply within the archaeological layers so maximising any opportunity of detecting any archaeology present. A comparison with the conventional twin array in both parallel and zig-zag walking modes was made over a single grid which contained part of a building and a track. The existing twin array frame gave no clear signal for the building, the track was the only major feature seen.

The metal prototype frame. © Nick Tarr.
The metal prototype frame. © Nick Tarr.

The prototype frame gave much better results. A further test across a monastic site in west Wales has also shown improved results over the conventional twin array methodology. Development work continues.

Art as history

Recently a re-examination of an 18th-century painting of Caus Castle in Shropshire helped piece together some of the castle’s history. It was prompted by mentioning the ongoing work at Caus on social media which shows how valuable it can be and how people can get involved.

Paintings and drawings are a useful resource, and while they are typically not meant as a pinpoint accurate record of what they depict, they can offer a guide. When used carefully they can be a very useful resource. There are wonderful medieval miniatures, including details of the siege of Bedford Castle in 1224 and this 14th-century image of a siege.

Some of my favourite images are by the Buck Brothers, engravers working in the mid-18th century. Their images are just wrong enough to remind you that these are not infallible records, but good enough to show how these buildings looked more than 250 years ago.

The National Library of Wales has digitised some of their collection and made it freely available online. With that in mind, here are a few historic images of Holt and Pembroke Castle, all of which are in the public domain.

Announcing our grants for 2016

The Castle Studies Trust is delighted to announce the award of two grants for 2016:Pembroke Castle keep

  • Pembroke Castle – geophysical survey of the castle’s interior. Best known for its massive round keep built by William Marshal, the greatest knight of his age, little else is known about what exactly was in the castle’s interior. Dyfed Archaeological Trust with the guidance of well-known castle expert Neil Ludlow will use the latest geophysical techniques including ground penetrating radar to try and reveal some of the secrets.
  • Caus Castle – earthwork, geophysical and photogrammetric survey of the castle. Frequently referenced in medieval research as an example of a Marcher castle and associated failed borough on the Welsh borders, nobody has done any proper analysis of one of the most important medieval sites on the Anglo/Welsh border. This first detailed archaeological analysis will be carried out by Dr Michael Fradley who has previously undertaken ground breaking surveys of castles at Wallingford (Oxon), Sudeley (Glos), and Newhall (Ches) and Giles Carey. The focus of the project will be on the outer bailey where the medieval borough was situated.

Donate to Have Opportunity to Visit the Selected Projects 

Within the next year the Trust will be organising exclusive visits the selected projects during the initial research stages or at completion of them. These visits are only open to those supporters who have donated to the Trust.

If you would like to be invited to a site visit you can donate in a variety of different ways:

Not only will you have the chance to visit the sites you will also be increasing the amount we can give away to more exciting projects like the ones above next year.

2016 grants: who has applied?

The deadline for grant applications passed on 15th December. We’re going through the various projects now. Altogether the nine projects are asking for £38,000. If you have been following us on social media you will have seen which sites have been proposed. For a little more detail, here are the applications we’ve received:

  • Pembroke Castle, Wales – a geophysical survey of the wards. The castle was once owned by William Marshall, one of the most famous knights of his time.
  • Lochore Castle, Scotland – post-excavation analysis of finds. The site was excavated in 2015, but the team need funding for specialist work on their finds.
  • Lancaster Castle, England (1) – wall penetrating radar of the walls of the castle’s Norman keep. The castle was used as a prison until 2011, so until recently there has been little opportunity for investigation of this sort.
  • Lancaster Castle, England (2) – creating drawings and 3D models to help present the site to the wider public.
  • Caus Castle, England – geophysical and photogrammetic survey of the earthworks of this motte and bailey castle. Caus was one of many such castles while can be found in the Marches of the border between England and Wales.
  • Laughton en le Morthen, England – geophysical survey of the earthworks of a motte and bailey castle. This castle may have been built on top of an earlier Saxon hall.
  • Wressle Castle, England – an examination of the evidence for the slighting of the castle in the 17th century and comparing it to other slighted castles in Yorkshire.
  • Codnor Castle, England – create a virtual reality tour of the castle showing how it once would have appeared.
  • Dunamase, Ireland – remote sensing and landscape survey. Like Pembroke was also owned by William Marshall at one point.

The applications have been sent to our expert assessors who will go over them. In January the blog will have more information on the assessment process, so be sure to visit again.

However there is not enough money to fund them all and so if you would like to donate to help us fund more and gain a chance for an exclusive visit to the chosen projects go here: https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/castlestudiestrust

Grants are now open!

There are two key dates for the charity over the next few months: 1 September and 15 December. The first marks the opening of our grants process. It is the start of the journey to understanding our history better. Applications close midway through December.

In that time we get to find out what people have been planning. After that comes the decision process which shapes what we do next year.

Our decision is informed by a panel of experts who have worked on castles across England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Their broad experience means we’re ready for just about any project which comes our way. We focus only on sites which aren’t managed by major heritage organisations. That way we can maximise how effective our work is, as these sites are unlikely to get attention otherwise.

You can help us by sharing the news that our grants are open. If you know a heritage group working on a castle, or some industrious soul with a passion for castles let them know about us. We offer up to £5,000 which can cover work like a digital reconstruction or a laser survey.

Want to learn more about previous grants or looking for inspiration? Read our grants page for details of projects from 2014 and 2015.