Name: Goodrich Castle
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Perched on a high crag, this red sandstone border fortress guards one of the most important crossings of the Wye between England and Wales. Goodrich's Castles, named after a local lord - lies in the territory conquered from the Welch soon after the Norman invasion. There are records of a castle here as early as 1101 but nothing of that fortress now remains.
The earliest part of the present castle is the small compact keep, only 9 meters (30Ft.) square, which was built around the middle of the 12th. century. It is a fine and simple example of a Norman keep arranged in the stories, with the original entrance on the first floor.
At the beginning of the thirteenth century a curtain wall with angled towers was added. Somewhere around 1280 all but the keep was swept away a new castle built. The builder was the king's uncle, William de Valence, a half brother of Henry III and a man of importance. He created a rectangular castle about 46 meters by 38 meters in size. On three corners were projecting towers and the fourth, the north eat, was occupied by the gatehouse, on one side of which was a D-shaped chapel tower and on the other a small circular turret. This remains much as he built it, although the chapel window is a fifteenth century addition.