Cylchgronau Cymru

1252, February 14th [?] Concerning the tenure of the castle of Penros. The sheriff of Hereford is commanded that, if John of Monmouth will freely give up to him the castle of Penros, he shall receive it and, at the expense of the said John, guard it safely until further command by the king.12 1252, February 21 st [?] Concerning the restitution of the castle. The sheriff of Hereford is commanded that, as he has taken the castle of Penros into the king's hands> he shall restore it without delay to John of Monmouth." 1252, March 8th [?] To William de Cantilupo, for the king. William de Cantilupo is commanded and exhorted due to the occasion of discord between himself and John of Monmouth that he shall not break the king's peace at Penros until the king shall have been informed by W. Teutonicum and W. de Avenbur', whom the king has sent to those parts to establish the truth on the basis of enquiry by royal mandate, neither should he [William de Cantilupo] cause any injury or grievance to him [John of Monmouth] nor suffer any to be inflicted on himself by him [John of Monmouth] so that he incurs the indignation of the king, but that he shall in all things hold himself in peace (all contention between them being prohibited) until such day as the king shall set, that justice may be shown in his court according to the king's law; in the meantime he shall allow the said John free access and egress to his castle of Penros without hindrance from him or his. And the king therefore commands the aforesaid John that he shall attempt nothing in the interim against William and his [followers] using this disagreement as an excuse.14 1253, June 26th, Southwick: Remission to William de Cantilupo of all his trespasses, as well in respect of the castle of Penros of John de Munemuth, which he caused to be thrown down, as other trespasses by him and his against the said John; on condition that he stand his trial if the said John or others proceed against him." To summarize then, the castle is first recorded in September 1248 and is fairly well documented until 1253. William de Cantilupe obviously regarded the construction of the castle within his territory and in such a commanding position as a serious threat to his hold on the lordship of Abergavenny. In defiance of the king's command and ignoring arbitration, he attacked and captured the castle twice (in 1248 and 1251) before finally succeeding in destroying it in 1253. Given the ferocity of William de Cantilupe's response to the existence of Penrhos, it seems unlikely that he would have allowed any considerable length of time to elapse between the initial construction of the castle and his first attack. It is highly probable that the castle was constructed in 1248. We are therefore able to give a definite date range of 1248-1253 for the existence and use of Penrhos Castle. It is interesting to note that the only known finds of pottery from the site are sherds of Monmouth A3 ware cooking pots" which are usually dated to the middle of the thirteenth century.17 In November 1273 another reference is made to Penrhos when the Fine Rolls record the commitment to Master Henry de Bray of 'the honour and castle of Penroys [sic]' on the death of George de Cantilupe, William's son.18 However, given the clarity of the 1253 Patent Roll entry and the fact that the detailed Ministers' Accounts of the manor for 1256-5719 make no mention of the castle, it is probably safe to regard the 'honour and castle' of 1273 as formulaic.