Clifford Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

On a ridge overlooking the bank of the Wye, a few kilometres from the Welsh border, Clifford Castle is one of the earliest Norman strongholds of the Marches. Founded shortly after the Conquest by William Fitz Osbern, Earl of Hereford, it controlled a ford and an access route into Wales, and lay at the heart of a complex including a borough, a mill, a deer park and, later, a Cluniac priory. What can be seen today dates mainly from the 13th century: an irregular polygonal enclosure set on top of the motte, with a gatehouse flanked by circular towers, a first-floor hall, three round corner towers and a curtain wall pierced by latrines. Some fifty metres to the east survive the bases of a twin-towered barbican. The ashlar facing has been extensively robbed, often exposing the rubble core. The site owes its fame to the Clifford family, who established the seat of a Marcher lordship there, and above all to Rosamund Clifford, mistress of Henry II, whose name remains attached to one of the towers. Long on the Heritage at Risk register, the castle has benefited from a consolidation programme supported by Historic England. It is listed Grade I and protected as a scheduled monument; it stands on private property.