Wiston Castle

Wiston Castle (Welsh: Castell Cas-wis) is a motte and bailey castle in the Pembrokeshire village of Wiston in south west Wales. The castle and village were founded by Wizo, a Flemish settler who was granted the land by Henry I of England after he had wrested control from the previous Welsh owners. The castle was captured by the Welsh on several occasions but on each occasion it was retaken. It was abandoned during the thirteenth century when the owner moved to nearby Picton Castle and is one of the best examples of its type in Wales. The castle is situated opposite St Mary Magdalene Church and there are approximately 75 steps leading up to it. It is in the care of Cadw and is a Grade I listed building.

Until the late eleventh century, this part of southwestern Wales was part of the Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth. After the death in 1093 of the king of Deheubarth, Rhys ap Tewdwr, in the Battle of Brecon, the Normans took advantage of the lack of leadership among the Welsh. and the English forces seized much of South Wales. To supplement their castle with its garrison at Pembroke and consolidate his territory newly acquired from the Welsh, Henry I of England sought to colonise the surrounding area by settling Flemish in Rhos and Deugleddau, in the neighbourhood of Haverfordwest. One of these Flemish barons was named Wizo, and he was granted land that had previously belonged to a Welsh lord, and on wthis he built Wiston Castle. The name of the castle derives from his name. In 1147, the Welsh led by Hywel ab Owain captured Wiston, now under control of Wizo's son Walter fits Wizo, but the Flemings soon got it back. In 1193, it was captured by the Welsh again, and on this occasion it took two years before the Flemings recovered their property. Wizo was an entrepreneur and encouraged others from his country to relocate to Wales, and by 1211, a church and borough had been established at Wiston. This was a deliberate policy of Henry I designed to help him maintain control in Wales. Wizo was later to do a similar colonisation in Lanarkshire in Scotland. In Pembrokeshire, the Flemings maintained their culture and were an identifiable group for at least a century.

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