Carmarthen Castle: The Archaeology of Government

434 Pages·2014·22.05 MB·English

by  Neil Ludlow

Contents
(cid:2)
Foreword by Eifion Bowen, Carmarthenshire County Council vii
Foreword by Kenneth Murphy, Dyfed Archaeological Trust ix
List of Figures xi
List of Tables xvii
List of Abbreviations xix
Acknowledgements xxi
1 INTRODUCTION: ‘A CERTAIN GOOD DONJON’ 1
A brief overview 2
Historiography 4
Location, setting and early settlement 5
An introductory description 8
2 CARMARTHEN CASTLE AND ITS PLACE IN MEDIEVAL WALES 15
Origins 16
Politics and war 19
A centre of government 25
The castle in the landscape 37
3 THE PHYSICAL REMAINS 65
The motte and shell-keep 65
The curtain walls and towers 83
The Great Gatehouse and bridge 118
The castle interior 150
The gaol wall, yard and Old Police Station 158
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vi (cid:3) Carmarthen Castle
4 RECONSTRUCTING THE CASTLE 173
Phase 1: The timber castle, 1106–1180 178
Phase 2: The shell-keep, 1181–1222? 181
Phase 3: The masonry defences, 1223–1240 183
Phase 4: Buildings for the king, 1241–1278 189
Phase 5: More accommodation, 1279–1300 191
Phase 6: Buildings for government, 1301–1408 194
Phase 7: Damage and rebuilding, 1409–c.1550 199
Social organisation: the castle as a residence 205
5 DIVISION, DEMOLITION AND DEVELOPMENT: THE POST-MEDIEVAL CASTLE 225
Decline: the late sixteenth/mid-seventeenth century 227
Slighting: from Civil War to Restoration, 1642–1660 231
The late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 236
The new County Gaol, 1789–1868 241
The late nineteenth-century gaol and County Hall, 1868–1993 253
6 POTTERY AND OTHER FINDS 275
Pottery and glass (Paul Courtney and Dee Williams) 277
Organics and metalwork from medieval deposits (Mark Redknap) 319
Small finds from post-medieval deposits (Mark Redknap, Dee Williams
and Edward Besly) 332
7 EPILOGUE: THE CASTLE REDISCOVERED 339
The castle in the present 339
The castle in the future 345
Appendix: Documented Development 351
Bibliography 371
Index 389
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Foreword
by Eifion Bowen,
Carmarthenshire County Council
Over the
last forty years Carmarthen has become familiar with visitors arriving to
see the castle, mistakenly thinking they are at Caernarfon (120 miles to the north). Perhaps
more surprising was the number of local people who, in response to a County Council
public consultation, said, ‘I didn’t know Carmarthen had a castle,’ Only glimpses of the cas-
tle were possible through the surrounding buildings and, even then, only ivy-clad remains
could be seen. In addition, rarely did Carmarthen appear in books on the castles of Wales.
It seemed to have vanished, and been forgotten.
Changes began in the early 1970s when the council demolished the Swan Inn, in Nott
Square, to reveal more of the gatehouse. Slowly but surely, over the following thirty years,
further schemes revealed more and more of the impressive remains. Hand in hand came a
wealth of information from the archaeology. The information from below ground was also
matched by that from the depths of the written record.
This book is the fruit of painstaking excavation, survey and research work by Neil Ludlow
and others. It includes a detailed history of the castle with a rare depth of analysis. The
strategic importance of this site is evidenced not only in battles for its control throughout
the Middle Ages, but in its persistence as a seat of power for 900 years. The description of
its long history is enriched by references to similarities with other castles in Britain, and the
trade connections with continental Europe revealed by the documents and pottery remains.
With the views and access now afforded to the public, Carmarthen Castle is on the map
in its own right, and is moreover recognised as one of the most important in the history of
Wales and beyond. This has been made possible through the dedication, expertise and pro-
fessionalism of a multi-disciplinary team of archaeologists, architects, planners, surveyors,
engineers, contractors, accountants and archivists; through the funding of the grant- making
bodies; and through the vision of the County Council.
Eifion Bowen
Head of Planning, Carmarthenshire County Council
August 2012
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Foreword
by Kenneth Murphy
dyfed Archaeological Trust
From its
foundation in 1975 until 1994, Dyfed Archaeological Trust was based in
Carmarthen – Wales’s oldest town and the focus of political and economic life in south-west
Wales for two thousand years. One of the Trust’s early priorities was to obtain a clearer
picture of the town’s archaeological resource, resulting in the 1980 publication of a pio-
neering survey by the late Terry James. At the same time, Heather James of the Trust began
large-scale excavations within Roman Carmarthen. The Trust’s commitment to the town
continued with an equally ambitious excavation by Terry James on the site of the medie-
val Franciscan Friary in the 1980s. Opportunities to investigate the castle were, however,
limited – though I had the chance to help excavate part of the site, again under Heather
and Terry James, in 1980.
The situation changed in 1993 with the commencement of a thirteen-year scheme
of enhancement work at the castle, under the county council, accompanied by a full
programme of archaeological investigation by Dyfed Archaeological Trust. The results of
excavation and recording by Duncan Schlee, Pete Crane, Neil Ludlow and others, are
described in this book, and assessed alongside Neil’s extensive research work to provide
a full account of the castle’s history and development. We see the officials and other occu-
pants of the castle, and look at their activities; the castle buildings are examined, along with
the uses to which they were put, and how they changed through time. This study makes a
major contribution to the history of one of Wales’s great towns.
Kenneth Murphy
Dyfed Archaeological Trust
December 2013
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