On the Pembrokeshire coast, Manorbier Castle is one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Wales — precisely because its Tudor masters were interested only in the revenues. Its link with the Renaissance is one of possession: it belonged to two of the figures closest to the Tudor throne, who almost never resided there.
A castle in the royal family
In 1487 — the year after Bosworth — Henry VII gave Manorbier 'in perpetuity' to his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, the matriarch who had done so much to bring her son to the throne. At Margaret's death (1509), the estate eventually fell, in 1525, to Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond — the illegitimate son of Henry VIII, at one time considered a possible heir. Thus, two figures among the closest to the Tudor throne — the mother of the dynasty's founder and the king's natural son — 'owned' Manorbier.
A castle preserved by indifference
But neither of them truly resided there: for these great owners, Manorbier was only one source of rents among others. For want of interest in the house itself, almost no transformation was made there in the sixteenth century. It is this very indifference that explains the remarkable preservation of the medieval castle: neither modernised, nor rebuilt, nor razed, it came through the Renaissance intact, keeping its enclosure, its chapel and its original great hall. Manorbier thus illustrates a frequent paradox: the best-preserved monuments are often those most neglected. To see: the intact medieval enclosure, the chapel, the great hall, the neighbouring dovecote.
Did you know?
Manorbier was the birthplace, in the twelfth century, of Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis), the greatest chronicler of medieval Wales, who described his native castle as 'the most beautiful spot in Wales'. Four centuries later, this 'most beautiful spot' belonged to the mother of one king and the son of another — without either coming to taste the beauty the old chronicler had so praised.
Notes
Manorbier Castle lies at Manorbier, Pembrokeshire; a private castle open to the public. Seasonal hours to check.
Quiz
- To whom did Henry VII give Manorbier in 1487?
- To his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort
- To Anne Boleyn
- To the pope
- Which natural son of Henry VIII then owned it?
- Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond
- Edward VI
- James I
- Why is Manorbier so well preserved?
- Its masters were interested only in rents (little work)
- It was restored by Henry VIII
- It never had a roof