Prestatyn Castle
Prestatyn castle was built by King Henry II in 1157. However, its history was only brief, spanning a mere ten years. The Welsh Prince Owain Gwynedd razed both the castle and the surrounding Norman town to the ground in around 1167, although it is said that part of the castle was still standing in 1297. Today, all that remains of the castle is a low mound, marked by a stone pillar.
The site where Prestatyn castle once stood. With thanks to Jessica Griffiths. |
At the time of the castle's construction, the greater part of North Wales was held by the Welsh Princes - the most important of these being Owain ap Gruffydd or Gwynedd. He wanted to remove the Normans from their stronghold of Flintshire. However, he faced strong opposition from King Henry II, who, soon after his ascension to the throne in 1154, decided to advance westwards. After much battle, Owain Gwynedd was forced to make a temporary truce at Rhuddlan. It was at this point that Henry turned his attention to Prestatyn. He wanted to consolidate his position by building a castle to safeguard the strategic coastal route from Chester.
Robert Banastre (born in 1130 in Prestatyn) was charged with building Prestatyn castle. He was the mesne lord of the town. He enjoyed the castellary of Prestatyn for three and a half years, during which time he enlarged the township.
Interpretation of how the castle might have looked from the south
With thanks to Mr. A.C. Evans and Year 8 pupil, Prestatyn High School |
Henry's quarrel with Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, distracted his attention from the situation in Wales. The Welsh for once managed to unite under the leadership of Owain Gwynedd, and regained the territory they had earlier lost to Henry.
Thus, after an uneasy peace, Owain Gwynedd, aided by Rhys ap Gruffydd or the Lord Rhys, besieged Rhuddlan in 1167. Soon afterwards, Rhuddlan castle on Twt Hill was captured and destroyed. They then moved to the coast in the direction of Prestatyn, where they were determined to capture the castle.
At this time, Prestatyn was a small medieval commote, consisting of a number of cottages in the area around the castle, roughly between Nant Hall and Nant Mill. This small garrison, belonging to the Earl of Chester, was quite a busy little place for its size. It had its own market place, mill, blacksmith's shop and a granary. Some of its inhabitants, more adventuresome than the rest, put out to sea in small sailing boats, returning home with welcome catches of fish. Their boats were kept in a convenient harbour nearby on Prestatyn Gutter.
This strategic Norman garrison now faced the approaching Welsh armies under Owain Gwynedd. Its inhabitants were filled with fear as they saw the enemy advancing towards them along the edge of the marsh. Soon battle commenced, the air was filled with the clash and rattle of swords, the whistling, rushing sound of flights of arrows, the cries of the opposing forces locked in battle, the shrieks of the wounded and the groans of the dying. Even many of the women and children living here were killed during this fierce encounter. The battle was soon over, the Norman garrison was overwhelmed and proved no match for Owain Gwynedd's army. Owain immediately destroyed the castle, so that it would no longer stand guard on this strategic coastal route.
A period of peace now followed until 1195. From here onwards, at periodic intervals, the tide of war between the Welsh princes and the English monarchs swept backwards and forwards throughout the area.
Additional information on Prestatyn Castle and other local castles can be found on the Castle Wales website.
Robert Banastre and the Lordship
Robert Banastre eventually migrated with his people into Lancashire, following the destruction of the settlement by Owain Gwynedd. Over a century later, in 1278, Robert Banastre's great grandson, also of the same name, petitioned Parliament for the recovery of Prestatyn manor lost by his great grandfather to the Welsh. The petition was rejected, but he received probably as compensation from the King the manor of Little Mollington, Chester (later known as Mollington Banastre).
In 1278, following the Edwardian Conquest, Edward I granted a Robert de Crevecoeur the manor (lordship) of Prestatyn. He died in 1316. His younger brother John was the heir but he must have died very shortly after his elder brother since the Inquisition post mortem held in Caernarvon records that John's eldest son Robert, aged 28, was the heir. It is not clear when the new heir, Robert de Crevecoeur, died. The Recognizance Rolls of Chester note the death of a Robert de Crevecoeur of Prestatyn in 1381; if this was the new heir he would have been 93 in that year - not impossible, but perhaps a little less likely than the possibility that an unrecorded de Crevecoeur intervened. It would however not affect the line of descent, since he would doubtless be of the same family. It is thought that the Crevecoeurs probably lived at Plas y Nant, on the site of the present Nant Hall bar/restaurant.
The heir of the Robert who died in 1381 was his brother, Sir Hugh de Crevecoeur. Angharad, the daughter and heiress to Sir Hugh, married Sir Henry de Conewey, a professional soldier, who had served in many capacities under Edward III, the Black Prince and Richard II. He acted from time to time as constable of Rhuddlan Castle, which adjoined the manor of Prestatyn; in 1397 he was made constable for life of the castle "for good service to the King's father and the King".
Sir Henry died in 1407 after successfully defending the castle against the forces of Owain Glyndwr. He had a house in Rhuddlan and may have begun the house known as Bodrhyddan where his descendants, the Conway family, still live. The Conway's connection with Prestatyn was long and intimate as they held the lordship until 1721.
