Pembroke castle?

Question

hi i live in pembroke, and i am in a debate over who built pembroke castle, i believe it was oliver cromwell, but im opposed by my partner who thinks it was the normans or celts, so can anyone end our debate, and tell me who is right if any of us are.

Answer 1

i no your partner is right, the normans built it in 11th century, oliver cromwell wernt around till the 17th century i think, the celts would of had nothing to do with it, but still there more likely to build a castle than oliver cromwell,

Answer 2

Your partner is partly right in that the castle was begun in 1093 by the Norman baron,Roger of Montgomery. The Celts (who didn't build in stone) had nothing to do with it. By the 17th century, the time of Oliver Cromwell, stone castles, such as pembroke, were no longer being built (in fact he tended to knock them down so they could not be used as strong points by Royalists)

You know, the answer to your question could easily have been found by googling the name:- see http://www.castlewales.com/pembroke.html and I'm sure there is plenty of history available in the local library

Answer 3

The first Pembroke Castle, which was wood, was built in 1093 by one of William's Norman cronies. The first stone structure was built in 1189 by the first Earl of Pembroke, one assumes also a member of one of the conquering Norman families.

I am unaware that Cromwell built any castles; he was much more interested in tearing them down; your partner needs to read some English history, because it is obvious that Pembroke Castle predates the Civil War by many centuries.

NOTE: My mistake. It's you that needs to read English history.

Answer 4

The unsurpassed strength of this mighty Norman Castle, sited on a high ridge between two tidal inlets, gave it the distinction of never haven fallen to the Welsh. The strategic position, on a major routeway, was chosen early in the first Norman incursions into south-west Wales, when the castle was founded by Roger of Montgomery in 1093, and it stood firm against Welsh counter-attacks in subsequent years.

In 1189 the castle came into the hands of William Marshal, who, over the next 30 years transformed the earth-and-timber castle into a mighty stone fortification.

Much of the building work in the outer ward may also belong to the early 13th-century work of William Marshal, and the main plan of the present defences remains as originally constructed. However, the apparently almost perfect preservation of this work is largely an illusion, as there was at the castle a systematic programme of restoration in the 19th and early 20th century.

Pembroke declared its support for Parliament at the beginning of the Civil War, but in 1648 the town's mayor, John Poyer, disgruntled at his lack of reward, joined a disaffected group of Roundheads unwilling to be demobilized. Cromwell himself came to besiege the castle which only fell after seven weeks when the water supply was cut off and a train of siege cannon arrived to start a bombardment. After this defiance, Cromwell blew up the barbican and the fronts of all the towers to prevent the castle ever again being used militarily.

Answer 5

I think it was built by the Normans in 1093. From personal opinion, I don't think it would be Oliver Cromwell because the first English Civil War was in 1645 and the walls from my picture wouldn't stand up to a cannon ball. Forts built around 1645 usually had slanted, shorter walls allowing more resilience against cannon fire.

Answer 6

It predates the Normans and has origins in the Iron Age.

The castle stands on a limestone bluff overlooking the Carew inlet — a part of the tidal estuary that makes up Milford Haven. The site must have been recognised as strategically useful from the earliest times, and recent excavations in the outer ward have discovered multiple defensive walls of an Iron Age fort. The Norman castle has its origins in a stone keep built by Gerald de Windsor around the year 1100. Gerald was made castellan of Pembroke Castle by Arnulf of Montgomery in the first Norman invasion of Pembrokeshire. He married Nest, princess of Deheubarth around 1095. Nest brought the manor of Carew as part of her dowry, and Gerald cleared the existing fort to build his own castle on Norman lines. The original outer walls were timber, and only the keep was of stone. This still exists in the later structure as the "Old Tower". The castle stands on a limestone bluff overlooking the Carew inlet — a part of the tidal estuary that makes up Milford Haven. The site must have been recognised as strategically useful from the earliest times, and recent excavations in the outer ward have discovered multiple defensive walls of an Iron Age fort. The Norman castle has its origins in a stone keep built by Gerald de Windsor around the year 1100. Gerald was made castellan of Pembroke Castle by Arnulf of Montgomery in the first Norman invasion of Pembrokeshire. He married Nest, princess of Deheubarth around 1095. Nest brought the manor of Carew as part of her dowry, and Gerald cleared the existing fort to build his own castle on Norman lines. The original outer walls were timber, and only the keep was of stone. This still exists in the later structure as the "Old Tower".

Answer 7

Funnily enough it was the Great Marshal, William, exemplar of knightly virtue and saviour of England.