Manorbier Castle

The castle at Manorbier is an unusual vision, a startling combination of beauty and function, residence and fortification, comfort and utility, which entices, enchants and educates the curious mind. Superficially, the castle may be seen simply as a lavish residence for wealthy Norman landowners but it is so much more than that. While the place certainly exudes warmth and luxury, the castle also represents the harsher realities of life with the Normans and the subjugation of the local Welsh populace.

Manorbier Castle sits majestically above the adjacent roadway which leads to the main entrance. Sheltered by trees and shrubbery, the castle suddenly pops out before you when you set foot on the grounds. Ahead is the outer bailey, with its fascinating relics from the English Civil War: the redan, a series of earthen embankments and ditches which were reinforced with stone, and would have impeded the advance of the enemy. On your left, the rectangular great gatehouse is a lovely spectacle. Rather simple in design, it projects over the surrounding ditch and beckons entry. Like many gatehouses, this one at Manorbier contains several defensive features: strong battlements, a portcullis, arrow-slits and machicolations (openings over the passageway through which liquids or solid missiles were thrown down upon attackers). Its simplicity indicates a lack of fear on the part of the castle's owners, but the defenses imply recognition of the potential for outside attack.