The History of Carew Castle

The site on which Carew Castle was built has had a place in history long before the Norman conquests of Wales began.

Numerous site excavations have revealed defensive ditches and trace of an entrance, possibly a gateway. It has been noted by historians that the particular layout of the defenses is characteristic of the 'Iron Age Celts' who were in control of the area for centuries before the birth of Christ, as well as a short time after.

Radiocarbon dating of objects found during excavations seems to imply that the site was in continuous habitation up to the Norman invasion. Jewelry and pottery dating as far back as the 1^st century have been recovered during digs. The Carew Cross has given historians food for thought about the importance of this site in the earliest periods of history.

On the cross there is a reference of Maredudd ap Edwin, co-ruler of the kingdom of Deheubarth until his death in 1035. It is possible the cross is his memorial marker, and if so, Carew may have been the royal home for this Celtic kingdom.

This may also explain the dowry of the fort and lands of Carew fort the Princess Nest, a granddaughter of the last King. The marriage of Princess Nest and Gerald de Windsor may well have been the catalyst for Gerald to flatten the fort and built the castle. It was a marriage not only of man and woman, old strategies and new ideas, and of Norman domination and Celtic tradition.

The Norman influence of Carew stemmed from the heavy-handed takeover of Southwest Wales by Arnulf de Montgomery, who created the Earldom of Pembroke. The governor that was appointed to the earldom was Gerald de Windsor.

Arnulf became a bit too big for his pantaloons and decided to rebel against the King Henry I. Arnulf's mistake was Gerald's triumph, as he ascended to not only becoming the representative to the crown and taking over Arnulf's holdings, but by marrying the Princess Nest and receiving the lands of Carew as part of her dowry. Gerald completed his rise to stardom with the building of Carew Castle.

Time has not been kind to Gerald's castle. The Old Tower is the only thing left. Once a proud and regal structure standing on its own, the tower was later incorporated into a curtain wall about 50 years after it was first constructed. The outline is still visible in the East Range.

On the first floor of the tower structure is a toilet chute, which is thought to be the very chute in which Gerald escaped during the attack, which saw his wife and children whisked away.

The tower was seemingly the only stone structure in the castle. Buildings of timber and mountains of earth and defensive ditches were the only other objects on the castle site. It was this area that made up the Inner Ward. The ditches mostly comprised the Outer Ward. Not much has been found during digs of the area, save the Norman era domestic garbage pile!

When Gerald died in 1116, his son William took over Carew and then passed it to his son Odo. It was during William's holding of the castle that the family took the name de Carew'. Around 1150 extensive work was carried out. New towers were constructed and the first of many grand Great Hall were added to the grounds of Carew.

The late 13^th century was a time of great change in Wales. The county was becoming highly contested between the Welsh nationals and the English occupiers. New castles were springing up all over ad old ones were being modernized. Carew was no exception.

During this period, Sir Nicholas de Carew owned Carew, an officer in the army of Edward I. He, along with his son John, completely revamped the castle. Carew became a showcase of modern domestic convenience and military might.

Extensive remodelling of the East Range was undertaken; adding a new hall and chapel tower, and the Southeast tower was reshaped. It is thought this was the first time the Outer Ward was walled in and the land further developed.

The West Range was created during this period. Two drum towers provided guard to the Great Hall. The Great Hall spanned the length of the west range, nearly 80 feet. There were huge windows, a gallery and private apartments in the towers.

Even in a state of semi ruin as it is today, the grandeur of the Great Hall and the West range is very easy to see. The views of the millpond and village are breathtaking. It is very easy to imagine a grand ball or a dinner being held and the atmosphere of days gone by is still palpable to visitors of the castle.

Sir Nicholas died in 1311, his son in 1324. After they died, the de Carew family retained ownership we into the 15^th century. While the castle was being well looked after, the costs of this endeavour were mounting.

The de Carew family was no longer held in the stature they once held at court and with royalty. But their ties were not entirely severed. Archers of the estates were decorated for bravery after the Battle at Crecy in 1346 and Sir Thomas Carew fought with Henry V at Agincourt.

But by the late 15^th century costs were far more than the de Carew family could tolerate. The family sold the castle to Rhys ap Thomas, a man who was to figure importantly in both the history of Carew castle and of Wales.

When Rays ap Thomas became the owner of Carew Castle, he was a man on the rise. The son of a powerful Carmarthenshire family, Rhys had come into substantial holdings by the time he purchased Carew.

Rhys was a supporter of the royal hierarchy, serving Edward Richard III, before switching alliances and fighting with Henry Tudor in a victory over Richard III and I. Rhys was given a knighthood and royal privilege. The new 'king of the castle' began to make many changes.

Rhys modernized all of Carew, adding Bath stone windows and small bay windows. The Middle Ward became a courtyard and a gatehouse was constructed to link the outer ward.

New private apartments were created and a royal retreat was added, complete with the crest of Henry Tudor over the fireplace. He later also included the crests of Henry VIII, Arthur, Henry's son, and Arthur's young wife Catherine of Aragon.

One of the greatest events of Rhys' ownership of Carew was the holding of the Great Tournament of 1507, one of the grandest social events held in Wales. The event marked Rhys becoming a knight. Hundreds of member of nobility came to the five-day gathering. There were celebrations of St. George's day, superb banquets and jousting, sword fights and many other grand displays.

After Rhys passed away, his grandson Rhys ap Gruffudd retained the castle but not his grandfather's royal trappings. Henry VIII didn't care for the younger Rhys and had him executed in 1531. Henry took the property of Carew. What had started as the heritage of the de Carew family became a legacy of the Crown.

With the execution of Rhys ape Gruffudd; Carew entered a new phase of history. The castle was leased by the Crown to a variety of occupants until Sir John Perrot, quite possibly an illegitimate son of Henry VIII, took tenancy in 1558.

It was in this time that the 'Elizabethan' era was born. Elizabeth I had come to the throne and with her a new style of doing things. Wales had been merged into England, and counties had replaced the old 'kingdoms', with representation in Parliament. Justices of the Peace, men taken from the local noble lineages, upheld Law in the counties.

Sir John embraced this new order. He also owned others castle, most notably Roch and Laugharne in what is now Tenby. But he followed in the footsteps of the previous owners of Carew, determined to make the most of this castle.

Sir John's greatest achievement at Carew was the construction of the three-story North Range. It most prominent feature was the Long Gallery. Decorated with beautiful art and furnishing, the breathtaking view of the millpond and homage to heraldic crests, it was the 'in' place to be. No doubt someone was asked to attend the Gallery, their place in high society was confirmed.

The Outer Ward was given new plantings and the parklands of the castle were greatly extended. The village of Carew was placed out in this time frame and its layout has not changed to the present day.

Perrot was convicted in 1591 of high treason against Queen Elizabeth and he never lived to see the work completed on Carew. He died in the tower of London in 1592. His son was given tenancy, but only surviving for two more years, he wasn't able to make any impact on Carew. The castle again returned to the Crown in 1594.

With the death of Sir John Perrot's son, the Crown continued to lease Carew to many tenants, including the Earl of Essex. The Carew family had other ideas. They were lobbying hard for the return of their family home and legacy.

When James, the King of Scotland took the throne (Elizabeth had died without an heir), eh decided to part with Carew. In 1607 Sir John Carew bought the partially in ruin castle and brought Carew back to the family.

In 1611 it was determined that the castle was in desperate circumstances and in dire need of repair. The cost was enormous and the prospects daunting. The window glass, which had lain unused since Sir John Perrot occupancy, was finally put in place.

Sir John Carew passed away in 1637. He death preceded a period where Carew would face it worst times. The English Civil War erupted in Wales and Carew would suffer greatly during the conflict at the hand of the King's troops.

In 1642, Carew was captured by Lord Carbery and was converted into a Royalist outpost, guarded by 50 men. In 1644 the Parliamentarian Colonel Laugharne took it. The following year it fell back to the Royalists when Colonel Laugharne was forced back to Pembroke.

Carew sea-sawed between the forces until the war ended, and Carew was left devastated by the effects of the war. Walls were pierced from shelling and windows were blocked with rubble to protect the combatants in the castle from the forces below. Excavations of the site have yielded home made musket balls, used to try and protect the castle.

The Parliamentarians, to ensure the castle could not be occupied in the near future, destroyed the South Range of the castle. After the war the castle was returned to the family, who occupied the East Range until 1686. They then moved to Somerset and the castle fell once again in disuse.

After the de Carew family in essence had given up their ancestral home, the castle continued on the downward spiral set in motion by the English Civil War.

The dressed stone of the castle was pilfered, being used to build new structures. The rough stone of the Outer Ward was removed and ended up unceremoniously as mortar or one of many other uses that the local village population dreamed up.

A limestone kiln was found during archaeological digs suggesting that indeed the outside of the castle suffered greatly from it's 'dressing down'. The interior wards suffered little from the pilfering, most likely due to their height and tremendous size.

During the 1700s and 1800s the castle again came to prominence because of a reawakening interest in the Middle Ages. The castle was painted in mediums such as watercolours. Carew was painted by a number of artists, the most famous being J.M.W. Turner, and the foremost landscape artist of the time.

Turner made five tours of Wales in seven years to sketch and paint. A series of his paintings entitled 'Picturesque Views of England and Wales' was prominently featuring of ruined castles. He painted a beautiful picture of Carew to include in the series.

Another artist named Charles Norris painted many views of Carew, and he was renown for his eye to architectural detail. Norris settled in the area near Carew which many explain the castle's frequent appearance in his work.

On a visit to Carew, one can see how the castle would catch the eye of a painter or the mind of a writer. The feel of a romantic era of the castle somewhat softens the violent bits of the castle's history. Carew can truly be viewed as a place where the stuff of fairy tales did indeed happen.