Penyclawdd
Penyclawdd is an ‘aberrant’ castle. It lies surprisingly close to the outskirts of Abergavenny in the pass between the rivers Monnow and Usk. Presumably it was an early knight’s fee of Abergavenny barony. From these Norman origins, by 1349, Penyclawdd had become a manor held by half a knight's fee from Abergavenny castle. This fee was held by Walter Kymbard from the late Earl Lawrence Hastings of Pembroke. Presumably the fee was much older as the castle remains suggest.
Description
The castle
consists of a double
moated motte and ‘ringwork’ at the rear of the late
Medieval Penyclawdd
house. Penyclawdd castle is a puzzling site. It is defensively weak,
backing
onto the higher ground from which runs the small stream that feeds the
outer
moat. There appears to be a counterscarp on the outer edge of the wet
moat to
the north. Inside what initially appears to be a ringwork, is a small
motte or
platform. This is about 10' above the inner dry ditch and has a
diameter of
about 60'. The top of the mound is solid and contains stone. The
remains
of the possible 'ringwork' has been destroyed on the east side by the
medieval
house, and on the south side by the walled garden and farmyard. The
‘ringwork’
bank is at least 15' wide and is about the same height except on the NW
side where it is higher than the motte. The inner ditch is about
15'-20' wide, but appears to be wider on the north side. The suggestion
that
the inner work may have been a ringwork with a motte within is
suggested by the
thickness and height of the bank, and the fact that it is as high as
the mound,
except where it actually overlooks the mound to the north-west. It is
possible
that the ringwork continued on the south and east sides or was replaced
by a
bailey which would now be destroyed under the house, garden and
farmyard. The
farmyard appears to be on a platform, there being a 'lip' where the
access road
enters the farmyard. The outer ditch also shows signs of having
originally
continued further south.