Coity Castle
| Coity Castle | |
|---|---|
| Glamorgan, Wales | |
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 Coity Castle
Shown within Wales
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| Coordinates | 51°31′19″N 3°33′11″W / 51.521944°N 3.553056°WCoordinates: 51°31′19″N 3°33′11″W / 51.521944°N 3.553056°W |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Cadw |
| Open to the public |
Yes |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Site history | |
| Materials | Stone |
Coity Castle (Welsh: Castell Coety) in Glamorgan, Wales is a Norman castle built by Sir Payn "the Demon" de Turberville (fl. 1126), one of the legendary Twelve Knights of Glamorgan supposed to have conquered Glamorgan under the leadership of Robert FitzHamon (d.1107), Lord of Gloucester. Now in ruins, it stands in the Community of Coity Higher near the town of Bridgend, in the County Borough of Bridgend. Very close to the castle is the battlemented parish church of St Mary the Virgin, dating from the 14th century.
It is a Grade I listed building.
The castle began as a late 11th-century ringwork. A rectangular stone keep and the main curtain wall were added by the Normans in the 12th century, under the de Turberville family. The three-storey keep was primarily a defensive structure.
Extensive reworking took place in the 14th century, when a domestic range was attached to the keep by the middle gatehouse. New stone vaults replaced the earlier timber floors. The central octagonal pier for the vaults is still prominent among the castle ruins. An adjoining chapel wing with a tall east window was added to the first floor at the eastern end of the domestic range in the 15th century.
Thomas de la Bere died as a minor on 28 October 1414, following which the lordship reverted to Sarah de Turberville, the youngest sister of Richard de Turberville, who had apparently produced male progeny from her marriage to William Gamage. There was in the few years following Sir Lawrence Berkerolles's death much general re-shuffling of property interests in Glamorgan, for example with the Stradling family. Sarah's marriage to Sir William Gamage of Roggiett, Gwent brought the lordship into the Gamage family, where it remained until 1584. The Gamage succession was not however easily achieved for in September 1412, that is to say whilst the supposed true heir the minor Thomas de la Bere was still alive, William Gamage assisted by Sir Gilbert Denys(d.1422) of Siston, Gloucestershire and formerly of Waterton-by-Ewenny, in Coity lordship, besieged Coity for a month, trying to oust Lady Joan Verney, wife of Sir Richard Verney and daughter of Margaret de Turberville, from the Castle. Joan it seems had taken up residence to assert her own claim to Coity in the confusion following Berkerolles's death. As she was a female, a widower and without a son, clearly her claim was deemed tenuous or rather completely spurious. The entry in the Patent Rolls is as follows:
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