GOODRICH CASTLE

Herefordshire

Without a doubt the most spectacular of all Herefordshire's many Castles, Goodrich Castle commands an amazing site above the winding River Wye. Probably the most impressive feature of the Castle being the moat which is hacked into the hard stone of the hill ... not a Castle which could easily be undermined!

The first Castle was built in the 1090s by Godric Mapplestone, from whom the Castle is thought to take its name. William FitzBaderon siezed the Castle during the Anarchy and it was probably he who constructed the small tower keep. The keep is really little more than a tower and could in no way be described as the Castle's strong point, it is dominated by the remainder of the buildings and leaves the least impression on the visitor.

The Castle was rebuilt in its current, astonishingly strong, form by the Earl of Pembroke and his son, Aymer, between 1247 and 1300. When Aymer died in 1324 the Castle passed to his daughter, Elizabeth Comyn. She was abducted by Hugh le Despencer (the second of Edward II’s two homosexual favourites and a man who was born without the wits to survive Corut life for long) who forced her to resign her rights to the Castle to him. She married Richard Talbot and after the fall and murder of Edward II (see Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire) and Despencer with him, she regained title to Goodrich. Despencer’s death was particularly gruesome – when he and Edward were caught at Neath in Wales Hugh was castrated, his genitalia were burnt in front of him and then he was hung from a high gibbet wearing a crown of nettles.

In 1446 the Castle became the chief seat of the Earls of Shrewsbury and later, in 1616, the Earls of Kent.

In 1643 it was garrisoned for Parliament by the Earl of Stamford, but he was forced to withdraw and the Castle was garrisoned instead for the King. In 1645 the King’s garrison found itself isolated and a surprise attack led to the burning of the stables in the outer bailey.

By the following June Parliament’s patience was running thin and a siege was laid by Colonel John Birch. The mortar 'Roaring Meg' was brought to bear on the Castle and it inflicted a large amount of damage. In July the garrison was forced to surrender and the Castle was slighted. 'Roaring Meg' has recently been returned to Goodrich Castle and is one of its star attractions.

The Castle is owned by English Heritage today and is open all year around.

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2018