Goodrich Castle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Goodrich Castle |
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| Herefordshire, England | |
Goodrich Castle, seen from the east
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 Goodrich Castle
Shown within Herefordshire
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| Coordinates | 51°52′34″N 2°36′47″W / 51.8761°N 2.6130°W |
| Grid reference | grid reference SO579199 |
| Type | Concentric castle |
| Site information | |
| Owner | English Heritage |
| Controlled by | English Heritage |
| Open to the public |
Yes |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Site history | |
| Materials | Sandstone |
Goodrich Castle is an old castle ruin in Herefordshire, England. It's found north of the village of Goodrich. The castle was built by the Normans, who came from France. It was very important because it controlled a key area between the towns of Monmouth and Ross-on-Wye.
A famous poet, William Wordsworth, called it the "noblest ruin in Herefordshire." An expert on castles, Adrian Pettifer, also said it was the "most splendid in the county." He thought it was one of the best examples of English military buildings.
Goodrich Castle was probably first built by Godric of Mappestone after the Normans took over England. It started as a simple fort made of earth and wood. In the mid-1100s, a stone tower, called a keep, replaced the old fort. Later, in the late 1200s, the castle was made much bigger. It became a concentric castle, which means it had several layers of walls. This design mixed fancy living areas with strong defenses. Goodrich's design was so good that it influenced many other castles built in England later on. It became the home of the powerful Talbot family. But by the time of the Tudor kings and queens, people stopped living there as much.
During the English Civil War in the 1640s, Goodrich Castle was held by both sides. First, the Parliament's army, called the Roundheads, took it. Then, the King's army, called the Cavaliers, captured it. Finally, in 1646, Colonel John Birch and his Parliament forces attacked and won the castle. They used a huge cannon called "Roaring Meg" to break through the walls. After the war, the castle was partly destroyed on purpose, so it couldn't be used as a fort again. This is why it became a ruin.
In the late 1700s, Goodrich became famous as a beautiful ruin. Many artists painted it, and poets wrote about it. Events at the castle even inspired Wordsworth's well-known poem "We are Seven" in 1798. By the 1900s, it was a popular place for tourists. Today, English Heritage owns it, and you can visit it.
Contents
Castle Design and Features
Goodrich Castle sits on a high, rocky hill made of sandstone. It looks over the River Wye. The castle was built to guard a river crossing, which was important for travel and trade. It also protected an old Roman road that went from England into Wales.
At the very center of the castle is an early Norman square tower, called a keep. It's made of light grey sandstone and has Norman-style windows. Even though its walls were thick, the keep was quite small inside. Each floor had only one room, about 5.5 by 4.5 meters (18 by 15 feet). This made it better for defense than for everyday living. The keep originally had its entrance on the first floor for safety. Later, this was changed to a window, and a new entrance was made on the ground floor.
Around the keep, there's a mostly square outer castle. This part was built in the 1280s using darker sandstone. It has three large towers. On the south and east sides, where the castle was easier to attack, deep ditches were dug into the rock. These ditches were about 27 meters (90 feet) long and 9 meters (28 feet) deep. The towers on these sides have special "spurs." These are like angled bumps at the base of the round towers. They were designed to stop attackers from digging tunnels under the towers to make them collapse. This design was common in castles near the Welsh border.
The fourth corner of the castle is its gatehouse. This gatehouse is not perfectly even; one tower is much bigger than the other. It had strong defenses like portcullises (heavy grilles that could be dropped), "murder-holes" (holes in the ceiling to drop things on attackers), and a drawbridge. Beyond the gatehouse, there's a large outer defense area called a barbican. This barbican was inspired by the one at the Tower of London. It was built to protect the stone path leading to the gatehouse. Today, the barbican is only half its original height. It also had its own gate to trap enemies inside the outer defenses. A stone path connects the gatehouse and the barbican.
The gatehouse's east-facing tower holds the castle's chapel. This was an unusual place for a chapel, but it was due to lack of space. It has a beautiful east window with restored 15th-century stained glass. This window lights up the priest's seat. The chapel's west window is more modern. It remembers British scientists and soldiers who worked on radar. The altar in the chapel is very old, possibly even older than the castle itself.
The main courtyard, called the bailey, had many large buildings for living. These included a great hall (a big dining and meeting room), a solarium (a private sitting room), a kitchen, a buttery (for drinks), and a pantry (for food). There were also many garderobes (toilets) and fireplaces. The large towers also offered more places to live. The way these buildings were designed helped with the castle's defenses. For example, the great hall was placed in the strongest spot, overlooking the river. This allowed it to have many large windows and a huge fireplace without making the castle weaker.
Water for the castle first came from a well in the courtyard. Later, water was brought in through pipes from a spring across the valley. By the early 1600s, the castle kitchens even had running water! The design of the buildings also allowed servants and nobles to live separately, which was quite new for castles at that time.
Outside the main castle walls, there was a stable area. It's now in ruins, but you can still see the cobblestone floor. Another smaller wall protected the stables and the north and west sides of the castle. This wall is mostly ruined now. Records suggest the stables could hold about 60 horses, but they were made bigger by the 1600s.
Castle History
Early Years: 11th and 12th Centuries
Goodrich Castle probably existed by 1101. It was known as Godric's Castle, likely named after Godric of Mappestone. He was a local Anglo-Saxon landowner mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Some historians thought the castle was even older, from the time of King Canute. It might have been one of the few Saxon forts along the Welsh border. By the time of the Normans, Goodrich was part of the Welsh Marches. These were lands given to Norman nobles near Wales. Even though Goodrich was on the safer English side, there was always a threat of attacks from Wales.
During the 1100s, English nobles became tougher towards the Welsh. Kings like Henry II were more aggressive in the area. Around the mid-1100s, Godric's first fort of earth and wood was taken down. A tall, but small, square stone tower, or keep, was built in its place. This tower is sometimes called "Macbeth's Tower." It was designed to be strong and impressive, but also cheap to build. We don't know for sure who built it or exactly when, but it was likely between 1120 and 1176.
At the start of the 1100s, the castle passed from Godric to William Fitz Baderon, who was probably his son-in-law. Then it went to William's son, Baderon of Monmouth, in the 1120s. England then fell into a time of chaos called the Anarchy. Two cousins, Stephen and the Empress Matilda, fought for power. Baderon of Monmouth married Rohese de Clare, from the powerful de Clare family who usually supported Stephen. Records show Baderon had to capture Goodrich Castle during the fighting. Some people think Baderon built the stone keep during this time.
Stephen later made Baderon's brother-in-law, Gilbert de Clare, an Earl. Gilbert de Clare eventually got Goodrich Castle himself. His son, Richard de Clare, known as "Strongbow," took over in 1148. Richard is another person who might have built the keep. In 1154, Richard lost favor with King Henry II. This was because the de Clares had supported Stephen. So, the king took control of the castle. Some people even think the king himself ordered the great keep to be built.
Growth and Power: 13th and 14th Centuries
During the reigns of King Richard I and his brother John, the castle belonged to the Crown. But King John lost many lands in France. This meant English nobles lost their own estates there. John worried about people opposing him. So, in 1203, John gave Goodrich Castle to William Marshal. This was to make up for his lost lands in France. Marshal was a famous English knight, known as a hero. He made Goodrich bigger by building a new stone curtain wall with towers around the old keep. Marshal had to protect Goodrich Castle from Welsh attacks. In 1216, he even left Henry III's coronation party to rush back and strengthen the castle.
Marshal's sons inherited the castle after he died. His eldest son, William, gave it to his younger brother, Walter. After William's death, Marshal's second son, Richard, took over. Richard led nobles who opposed Henry III and joined forces with the Welsh. Because of this, King Henry attacked Goodrich Castle in 1233 and took control for a while. Walter eventually got Goodrich back, but he died soon after in 1245.
The castle went back to the Crown for a short time. But in 1247, it passed to William de Valence through marriage. William was King Henry III's half-brother. He was a French nobleman and a skilled soldier. Henry arranged his marriage to Joan de Munchensi, who was one of the heirs to the Marshal family's property. This marriage made Valence very rich and gave him the title of Earl of Pembroke.
The situation on the Welsh border remained difficult. After 1250, it became much worse. The Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd often raided English lands. The Wye valley and Goodrich were especially affected by these attacks.
Because of this, William de Valence started building a much larger castle around the original keep in the 1280s. He tore down Marshal's earlier work. This building project was very expensive. Valence used oak trees from royal forests for the construction. Valence was building at the same time his nephew, Edward I, was building his huge castles in North Wales. The concentric castle Valence built at Goodrich is very similar in design to Edward's castles. It's also quite rare to find such a design in England itself. Valence's son, Aymer de Valence, added another line of outer defenses before he died in 1324. This included the outer barbican, which was inspired by the one at the Tower of London. Goodrich was one of the first castles to successfully become a grand home without losing its strong defenses. This influenced later castle designs, like at Berkeley.
The castle then went to Aymer's niece, Elizabeth de Comyn. She was a well-connected young noblewoman. But by the mid-1320s, England was ruled harshly by the Marcher lords Hugh Despenser the Elder and his son Hugh Despenser the Younger. They were favorites of King Edward II. The Despensers illegally took many properties from their rivals. They especially targeted people who were vulnerable, like widows or unmarried women. When Elizabeth inherited Goodrich, Hugh Despenser the Younger kidnapped her in London. He took her to Herefordshire and locked her up in her own castle at Goodrich. Under threat of death, Elizabeth was forced to sign over the castle and other lands to the Despensers in April 1325.
Elizabeth then married Richard Talbot. He took back the castle in 1326, just before Queen Isabella of France arrived in England. Isabella removed both the Despensers and her husband, Edward II, from power. Talbot and Elizabeth officially got their castle back the next year. Richard later got permission from Isabella's son, Edward III, to build a dungeon under the keep for prisoners.
Later Years: 15th and 16th Centuries
Goodrich remained the favorite home of Richard Talbot's family for many years. In the early 1400s, the situation in Wales was still a concern. Owain Glyndŵr led a rebellion against English rule in 1402. Welsh forces attacked the Goodrich area in 1404 and 1405. Gilbert Talbot was in charge of fighting back the Welsh and protecting the castle. As time went on, the threat from Wales became smaller. During the 1400s, the Talbots made the lord's living quarters much bigger. They also added more rooms for servants and other people who lived there.
The Talbots became the Earls of Shrewsbury in 1442. This was just before the Wars of the Roses, a series of wars in England. The Talbots supported the Lancastrian side. Because of these wars, the Talbots often fought elsewhere in England. They also stayed at their castle in Sheffield a lot. John Talbot died in the Lancastrian defeat at Northampton in 1460. The castle was taken from his family and given to the Yorkist William Herbert. However, John's son, also named John Talbot, later made peace with the king. He got his lands and Goodrich Castle back before he died in 1473.
By the 1500s, the castle was becoming less popular as a home. Goodrich was too far from London to be a useful place for powerful families. So, it was slowly left empty as people moved to more stylish homes. However, Goodrich was still used as a place for legal matters. The historian John Leland noted that some parts of the castle were used to hold prisoners for the local court in the 1530s. The castle ditch was sometimes used to store cattle taken from local farmers.
In 1576, Gilbert Talbot and his wife Mary stayed at Goodrich Castle. They sent his father gifts of local products, like a Monmouth cap, Ross boots, and perry (a drink made from pears). Gilbert Talbot died in 1616 without a male heir. Goodrich then went to Henry Grey, Earl of Kent. The Greys chose not to live at Goodrich. Instead, they rented the castle to different people over the years.
The English Civil War
Goodrich Castle became the site of a very tough siege during the English Civil War in the 1640s. This war was fought between the Roundheads (Parliament's supporters) and the King's supporters, called the Cavaliers. Before the war, some building work had been done at the castle. Richard Tyler, a local lawyer, rented the castle and was its keeper. In the early 1630s, the castle had been greatly repaired.
Soon after the war began, the Earl of Stamford and Tyler put Parliament's soldiers in the castle. They stayed until December 1643. But the King's forces were getting stronger in the area, so they had to leave. Then, a Royalist group led by Sir Henry Lingen took over the castle. Their time there was not peaceful. Royalist troops burned nearby farm buildings. Tyler himself was put in prison by Lingen, but not before he sold his animals and other movable things. Sometimes, Goodrich Castle was called Guthridge Castle during this time.
As the King's side started losing, the south-west of England became one of their last strongholds. Lingen, with 200 men and 90 horses at Goodrich Castle, attacked Parliament's forces in the area. This was a constant challenge for Parliament. However, no one had added modern defenses to the castle. It was still mostly in its medieval condition.
In 1646, Parliament's Colonels John Birch and Robert Kyrle marched south. They had just won the Siege of Hereford. They then attacked Goodrich Castle to get rid of one of the last Royalist strongholds. There was some bad feeling between Lingen and Birch; both were strong-willed men. Birch's first move was to stop Lingen's attacks. On March 9, he burned the weakly defended stables in a surprise night attack. This drove away the Royalist horses and stopped their quick movements for a while. But Birch couldn't follow up his advantage. Over the next few months, Lingen managed to get some horses back and continued his attacks on Parliament's forces.
In June, Birch returned and attacked the castle itself. He found it was too strong to take by direct attack. So, he started digging trenches to bring his cannons closer to the castle. Parliament's attacks broke the pipe that brought water into the castle. Exploding shells destroyed the water tanks in the courtyard. This forced the soldiers inside to rely on the old castle well. The castle was still holding out. So, Colonel Birch built a huge mortar (a type of cannon) called "Roaring Meg" in a local workshop. This mortar could fire a shell filled with gunpowder that weighed 85–90 kg (187–198 lbs).
Birch focused his efforts on the north-west tower. He used his mortar against its stone walls. His engineers, called sappers, also dug tunnels to weaken the tower's foundations. Lingen tried to fight back by digging a counter-mine under Parliament's tunnel. This might have worked, but Birch moved his mortar forward quietly in the dark. He launched a close-range attack on the tower. The tower collapsed and buried Lingen's counter-mine. The Royalists were running out of gunpowder and beer. A direct attack was about to happen. So, they surrendered. People say the soldiers left the castle playing the tune "Sir Henry Lingen's Fancy."
Even with the damage, Tyler was able to move back into his castle. A small group of Parliament's soldiers protected it. But after an investigation, the castle was partly destroyed on purpose the next year. This made it impossible to defend. The Countess of Kent, the new owner, was given £1,000 for the damage. But she chose not to rebuild the castle because it was almost impossible to live in.
Goodrich Castle: 18th and 19th Centuries
After the Civil War, Goodrich Castle stayed with the Earls of Kent until 1740. Then, Henry Grey sold it to Admiral Thomas Griffin. Griffin did some repairs to the castle, but he kept it as a ruin.
In the 1780s, the idea of a beautiful, old ruin became popular. An English clergyman named William Gilpin helped make this idea famous. Goodrich Castle was one of the ruins he wrote about in his book Observations on the River Wye in 1782. He said the castle was an example of a "correctly picturesque" landscape. By this time, the castle was slowly falling apart. An early Victorian historian, Theodore Fielding, wrote about how the castle's quiet location made people think about "grandeur sinking in dignity, into decay." Regency and Victorian watercolour artists like David Cox and William Callow also painted Goodrich Castle. They captured the romantic feeling of the setting.
William Wordsworth praised the castle as the "noblest ruin in Herefordshire." Wordsworth first visited Goodrich Castle in 1793. He met a little girl while exploring the ruins. This meeting inspired him to write his poem We are Seven in 1798. Other poets from this time were also inspired by the castle, including Henry Neele in 1827.
By the 1820s, visitors could buy an early guidebook at the castle. It told them about the castle's history. Victorian tourists wrote that they were charged six-pence to walk around the castle. In the early 1820s, the historian Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick tried to buy the castle. He wanted to turn it back into a private home. But he couldn't convince the owners to sell. Instead, Meyrick built a new castle-like house called Goodrich Court next door. This made Wordsworth very unhappy when he returned to Goodrich in 1841. He found the view spoiled by the new building. A new bridge over the River Wye, built in 1828, and a railway line in 1873 also brought more visitors to the area.
Goodrich Castle then passed through different owners. In 1915, the Office of Works started talking with its owner, Mrs. Edmund Bosanquet. Large parts of the north-west tower and curtain wall collapsed in 1919. This helped Mrs. Bosanquet decide to give the castle to the First Commissioner of Works in 1920. The Commissioners then started repairing the castle to keep it from falling apart further.
Goodrich Castle Today
Today, experts consider Goodrich Castle to be the "most splendid in the county." They also say it's one of the best examples of English military architecture. The castle is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Monument. This means it's a very important historical site.
Most of the castle still stands, and it's open to the public. English Heritage manages the site. The Victorian castle next door, Goodrich Court, was torn down in 1949. This helped bring back the original landscape around the castle. The famous "Roaring Meg" mortar, which was kept by Herefordshire Council, has been returned to the site. You can also see some cannonballs from the Civil War that were found at Goodrich during digs in the 1920s.
Castle Legends
Several old stories and legends are told about Goodrich Castle. The Great Keep is sometimes called the "Macbeth tower." This is because of stories about an Irish chieftain who was held prisoner there. Some tales say he died trying to escape, and his ghost is still said to haunt the tower.
The events of the English Civil War also led to local legends. Stories say that Colonel Birch's niece, Alice Birch, fell in love with a handsome Royalist soldier named Charles Clifford. According to these tales, the two tried to escape before the final attack on the castle. But they died in a flash flood while trying to cross the River Wye. People say their ghosts still live on at the castle site.
See also
- Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
- Grade I listed buildings in Herefordshire
- List of places in Herefordshire
