#roger bigod

[joanofnavarre]

𝑇𝘩𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑛 & 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝘩𝑜 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑑𝑜𝑚/𝑑𝑢𝑘𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑘 (𝐼)

[mostly-history]

Chepstow Castle (Moonmothshire, Wales).

Construction on Chepstow Castle, on the south bank of the River Wye, began in 1067 under the instruction of the Norman Lord William FitzOsbern.  It was the southern-most of a chain of castles built in the Welsh Marches.

William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, was the castle's most famous owner.  Beginning in the 1190s, he made improvements to its structure, building a new curtain wall with gates and towers around the eastern bailey, which was one of the earliest defences in England to use round wall towers and true arrow loops.

After his death in 1219, the castle passed to his sons, and in the period up to 1245 they made further improvements.  The barbican (a fortified gateway or outpost) was added in the west, defended by its own ditch and guarded by a tower.  A large new outer bailey was built on the east, protected by two lines of machicolations, and a double-towered gatehouse that was closed by two portcullises.

The western barbican.

Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk, inherited Chepstow Castle in 1270.  Finishing in around 1272, he built the western gatehouse to protect the barbican.  Marten's Tower, in the south-east corner of the curtain walls, was constructed over the course of the 1280s and 1290s.  Because of the increased security, a new range of stone domestic buildings was placed along the inside of the north wall, including a large great hall that was completed in time for Edward I's visit in December 1285.

Martens Tower.

The great hall.