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The Norman conquest of Wales, though not completed till the reign of 

 Edward I., was really begun by William I. That far-seeing Sovereign had doubt- 

 less planned, and had he not been interrupted by difficulties amongst his own sub- 

 jects, would have accomplished the subjection of the whole of South, and perhaps 

 of North, Britain. Frustrated in this design, he yet set on foot the movement 

 westwards, carried out by his successors. 



Placing his lieutenants at Chester and Hereford, which thus became the 

 basis of all future operations, he gave full power to these and others to wrest what 

 they could from the Welsh — a permission they did not fail to make the most of — 

 securing their conquests by castles as fast as they made them. 



Of the 49 castles mentioned in Domesday Book, one-sixth are mentioned 

 as belonging to the Herefordshire border, and these, including Wigmore, Mon- 

 mouth, Caerleon, &c. , may be said to form the first line of Norman operations. 



William Rufus and Henry I. carried on the work with vigour. 



The latter it was who conceived the politic idea of settling Flemings in 

 Pembrokeshire (Rhos), who, under the peaceful title of colonists, should be really 

 a garrison attached to his interests. The presence of these was, of course, an 

 irritation to the Welsh, who, under Griffith or GryfiFyn-ap-Rhys, rose in arms, took 

 Cardigan, and cut off the Flemings, and affairs became so serious that Henry 

 found it necessary to go into Wales in person. His son, Robert of Gloucester, 

 suppressed the insurrection — South Wales submitted, and Gryffyn's possessions 

 were reduced to the single Coraat of Cayo, in Carmarthenshire. To secure this 

 conquest, fresh castles were built, and amongst them, there is reason to believe, 

 the subject of this paper — Painscastle — so called from its founder, a follower of the 

 Conqueror, Payne Fitz John, or " Paganus de Cadwrcis," Lord of Ewyas, 

 Sheriff of Hereford and Shrewsbury, and one of the King's secretaries. He was 

 the companion in arms of Bernard Newmarch, Lord of Brecknock, and these two 

 generals, attacking Cadwgan, the prince or regulus of the territory, then weakened 

 by successive hostilities, and by the defection of the Earl of Powys, possessed 

 themselves of the district around Glasbury and Llanbedr. The Castle was erected 

 u]x>n the site of a British camp or military station, called " Caer-yn-Elfael," and 

 probably formed one in a second line of fortifications with Hay, BredwarJine, 

 Huntingdon, Radnor, Clun, and perhaps others. 



Payne died about the year 1136 or 1137. He was a man of distinguished 

 activity and valour, trusted alike by friend and foe, for in the "Annales Cambriae " 

 we are told that to his keeping was delivered Llewellyn Ap Owain, when taken 

 prisoner by his brother Meredyth, Anno 1128 — a fine instance of Welsh family 

 feud. The Castle was completed by his son. It was of considerable strength and 

 importance. Viewed from the ruins, the situation appears to be almost the centre 

 of a circle formed by the surrounding hills of Llanbedr, Beggwyns (or beacons), 

 and Clyro, but it really stands upon a spur of the first-named hill, and in a 

 position at once commanding and picturesque. It had a lofty keep or citadel, 

 surrounded by a moat 20 feet deep, and an outer moat encompassing an area of an 



