Early History
The Welsh Marches is a term used to denote the border between England and Wales. Following the Norman Invasion in 1066, William the Conqueror installed three of his most trusted confidants, Hugh d’Avranches, Roger de Montgomerie, and William FitzOsbern, as Earls of Chester, Shrewsbury and Hereford respectively, with responsibilities for preventing Welsh incursion into England
The first Clifford Castle was built around 1070 by William Fitz Osbern, Earl of Hereford, to defend one of the major access routes into Mid Wales and doubtless act as a stagingpost for campaigns into Wales. Certainly, it is mentioned in the Domesday Book, in 1086 as having been granted to Ralph Tosny of Conches in Eure, Normandy. It is likely that it was strengthened at various points throughout the late 11th and early 12th century by members of the Fitz Pons family, of which Walter Clifford was a descendent.
Fair Rosamund
Walter (de) Clifford married Margaret Tosny around 1155 and had 3 sons and 3 daughters, one of whom was Rosamund. According to folklore and chronicles from the late 13th and eary 14th centuries, Rosamund was purported to have been a mistress of Henry II, although Henry was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine. Walter Clifford appears to have been actively campaigning in Wales with Henry II in the early 1160’s, so it is possible that is when the King first encountered ‘Fair Rosamund’.
Rosamund grew up at Clifford Castle before being send to Godstow Nunnery to be educated by the nuns. According to rumour, Henry conducted his affair with Rosamund at his estates at Woodstock, Oxfordshire. She died at Godstow in 1176, barely 30 years old.
Late 12th to early 13th Century
It appears the Clifford Family rose to greater power under King John. Walter de Clifford sided firmly with the King at the time of hostilities between the Braose family and the Crown.Between 1208 and 1214 the Cliffords joined the King in various campaigns in Ireland and France. Yet King John was becoming increasingly unpopular, resulting in a general rebellion against his rule. Whilst several of the lesser Lords of the Marches were against John, Walter Clifford stood by his side at Runnymede in June 1215.
The Clifford Rebellion of 1233
Walter Clifford the Younger was appointed Sheriff of Hereford in 1215, and over the next 15 years, considerable martial prowess brought him renown and helped him acquire more lands, including the custody of Carmarthen and Cardigan castles in 1228, and the lands of the Bishop of St Davids in 1229. Yet Walter de Clifford along with other marcher lords grew tired of the power of the King and of his relations, and rebelled, refusing to attend the King’s councils. Henry III travelled to the Marches with the aim of restoring order and subduing the rebellious Barons. By late August, he had forced knights and castles loyal to de Clifford to submit and this show of strength ensured that Clifford eventually surrendered by mid September, receiving back his lands and castles, although not fully until the following year
The next 20 years saw alternating periods of loyalty and mistrust between Clifford and the Crown. Around Easter 1250, Walter Clifford was so angered by one set of royal instructions send to him by the King, that he forced the messenger to eat the entire writ including the royal wax seal!
The demise of Clifford Castle
During the rest of the 13th Century, the Clifford Castle and lands passed into the hands of Walter Clifford’s daughter, Mathilda Longspey, and then on to Margaret, wife of Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln. Whether castle fell into gradual decline and disuse, or whether it was sacked by Owain Glyndwr in 1402, we shall never know. Certainly, the more accessible parts of the castle seem to have been systematically demolished and the stone carted away for re-use in the neighbouring houses and cottages.