Goodrich Castle (England)

Goodrich Castle

Standing in open coutryside above the River Wye,Goodrich Castle is one of the finest and best preserved of all English medieval castles.Despite its setting near the Anglo-Welsh border,the castle led a largely peaceful existence,and its ruined state is the result of a single violent episode during the Civil War of the17th century.
A castle has stood in this area since the 11th century and the site still contains a small keep built in the 12th century,probably by Richard "Strongbow" de Clare (d.1176),who achieved fame as conqueror of Ireland in the 1170s.The castle's defences were upgraded when it passed to William Marshal (d.1219),one of the greatest soldiers of his time.But Goodrich was largely rebuilt in the late 13th century after Henry iii gave it to his half-brother,William de Valence (d.1296),an ifluential figure at the royal court who accompained Edward i on crusade in 1270. At Goodrich he created one of the most up-to-date castles of its period - an impressive defensive shell, concealing residential buildings of extraordinary complexity and architectural sophistication.
The castle survived,slightly altered in the later Middle Ages, until 1646,when its Royalist garrison was forced to surrender to Parliamentarians after two-month siege,and much of the castle was ruined by mortal fire. In the 18th and 19th centuries the overgrown ruins became a magnet for visitors in search of the Picturesque or attracted by the caste's historic associations.



Garderobe Tower

At the south end of the east range is the garderobe tower; added to the east curtain wall in the later Middle Ages to replace a small single latrine. This tower is one of the most remarkable features of Goodrich Castle and the survival of such a large example is extremely rare in England and Wales. It was a communal latrine for the convenience of the whole household, several of the whom could use it at a time. At the level of the courtyard, three doors opened inwards into the latrine chambers, which projected beyond the line of the curtain wall in a hollow masonry buttress; each chamber may have contained more than one seat. The back wall of the tower contained to further chutes, probably ventilation shafts running upwards from the cesspit at the bottom of the buttress. Waste could be cleared out of the cess through an arched opening into the eastern ditch of the castle.

The East Wall

1-Remains of three latrine chambers in the garderobe tower.

2-Outlet through which waste could be shovelled into the ditch from the garderobe tower.

3-Change in mansory, showing probable early 13^th-century walling below and late 13th- - century walling above.

4-South-East Tower

How to get there:

Location Nr Ross-on-Wye,Herefordshire

Map Ref SO 577200

Tel 01600890538

Web www.english-heritage.org.uk

Open Daily 10-5 March-May, September-October; 10-6 June- August; Thursday- Monday 10-4 November-February.

Refreshments: Car park.Ye Hostelrie Hotel, Goodrich

toilets: Car park