Welsh Journals

THE CASTLES OF MONTGOMERYSHIRE C. J. SPURGEON, B.A. (This paper is the result of a continuing field study of the earthworks of the upper Severn Region. New plans have been made of sixteen Montgomeryshire Castles and the 25-inch O.S. plans of five others have been revised. All but four sites have been inspected by the writer. The four are Nos. 7, 26, 27, and 29.) The Montgomeryshire Collections provide the most valuable modern source for the study of the many aspects of the history and Archaeology of our county. The Medievalist, especially, has reason to acknowledge his indebtedness to the numerous contributors to The Collections, whose papers deal with so many aspects of the Middle Ages in Montgomeryshire. No single article in our journal, how- ever, has attempted to provide a list of all the castles in Montgomeryshire. Readers will appreciate that no list of this kind can be final, but it is unlikely that many more castles remain undetected. The centenary year of the Club is, therefore, an appropriate occasion to offer such a list. Mr. D. J. Cathcart King, in his papers on the Castles of Breconshire, and Cardiganshire,2 provides a model which, with his kind permission, will be copied. I am further indebted to Mr. King, whose deep understanding of the subject has been an inspiration, and whose company I was privileged to enjoy during visits to several of the castles. The Montgomeryshire Inventory of the Royal Commission on Ancient Monu- ments (1911) provides a useful list, but its treatment of the castles was inconsis- tent and often inaccurate. Since its publication, further castles have been recog- nised, while some of its examples are clearly not castles. It is unfortunate that the valuable list of the earthwork castles of Wales by Messrs. A. H. A. Hogg and D. J. C. King,3 perpetuates some of the errors of the Inventory, but, in fairness to its authors, it should be stated that their list indicated which castles were included after personal inspection and none of those here rejected had 1 Brycheiniog, VII, 1961 pp. 71-94, with map. Ceredigion, III, 1956, pp. 50-69, with map. 3 Arch. Comb., 1963, pp. 77-124.