The keep is currently closed off to the public because the masonry is falling down inside, so you can't walk up to it. The site is fairly overgrown and not ideal for pushchairs or those with mobility issues. But it is a fun place to play knights and have sword fights! There's a really nice pub just round the corner too, The Crown Inn. Nice food, few local Welsh beers, lovely sunny garden.
From Hereford, take the A465 West, towards Pontrilas.
At the village of Pontrilas, turn right onto Pontrilas Road, the B4347. After 0.8 of a mile, turn left at Bridge Farm. Follow the road for about 5 miles, turning right by the Crown Inn.
The Castle is further on, on the left.
The history of the castle at Longtown goes back much further than the Norman invasion of England.
The Normans may have been responsible for the motte in the north-west corner, but the ramparts were heightened by a Saxon Earl, Harold Godwinson, the future King Harold.
He worked with what was already there - a Roman fort, built 2000 years ago to house the Roman infantry sent over from Rome to fight the Silures tribe in the south of Wales, who were fiercely resisting the Roman conquest of Britain.
The ramparts are clearly visible around the settlement, and the old Roman entrance can be walked along just to the left of the castle's entrance.
As you walk along this, evidence of Harold's extensive work to heightened them can be seen amongst the foliage.
Harold and his army camped at the site following Aeflgar and Gruffudd ap Llywelyn's attack on the Anglo-Saxon town of Hereford, which they had burned to the ground.
When Harold lost to William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, William sent in Walter de Lacy to build a motte and bailey at the site at Longtown.
From here, Walter could defend the border from attacks from the Welsh, who were resisting the Norman invasion.
The wooden fort was eventually replaced by a stone keep, and the keep is unusual in its design, in that it's a round tower, something more commonly seen in Welsh castles.
The castle was already in decay by 1317, although it was refortified during Owain Glyndwr's rebellion. By 1452, both the castle and medieval village were in decline.
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