Heritage > British Castles

Weobley Castle

Perched above the wild northern coast of the beautiful Gower Peninsula, little Weobley Castle looks out over wide marshes towards the Loughor estuary. Despite its name and strong position, it is not so much as castle as a fortified manor house, a rarer survivor in Wales.

Dating mainly from the late 13th and 14th centuries, it was the home of the knightly de la Bere family, defensible as need but mainly built to provide comfortable living quarters.

Clustered around a countyard, its principal rooms include a fine hall, a "solar" or private chamber, and a sizeable guest bedroom. There are also numerous "garderobes" or toilets, some arranged at three levels in a purpose built tower. The decorative windows of hall and solar, together with sculped fragments found on the site, show that the de la Beres valued elegance and good craftsmanship as well as convenience. So too did Sir Rhys ap Thomas, the most powerful man in early Tudor Wales, who acquired the mansion in the late 15th century.



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