Castle Ruins, Hay Castle, Castle Street, Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales UK

            Hay Castle is a medieval fortification and 17th-century mansion house in the small town of Hay-on-Wye in Powys, Wales. Originally constructed as part of the Norman invasion of Wales, the castle was designed as a ringwork overlooking the town in either the late-11th or early-12th centuries. It was rebuilt in stone around 1200 by the de Braose family and then had a turbulent history, being attacked and burnt several times during the First and Second Barons’ Wars, the wars with the Welsh princes, the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr and the Wars of the Roses. In the 17th century a Jacobean mansion house was built alongside the medieval keep and the property became a private home. Serious fires in 1939 and 1977 gutted the castle and, despite repairs in the 1980s, by the 21st century much of the building was derelict and unstable. Since 2011 it has been owned by the Hay Castle Trust who plan to renovate the property to form an arts and education centre.

Between 1904 and 1906 the castle was rented by the Morell family, after which it was occupied by the Dowager Lady Glanusk. The architect W. D. Caroe was employed to restore the house in 1910 and it was sold to the banker Benjamin Guiness in 1937. A major fire then destroyed the interior of the eastern side of the castle in 1939. Around 1961, the castle was acquired by Richard Booth who used it as a bookstore and as a location for parties, with a holiday cottage in the grounds. Much of the walled garden was sold for development in 1975, and another fire in 1977 destroyed the interior of the western half of the castle: repairs were carried out from the 1980s onwards.

In 2011 the castle was sold for around £2 million to the Hay Castle Trust, who intended to turn it into an arts and education centre.

The castle site is now approximately 110 by 100 metres (360 by 330 ft) across. As of 2015, the derelict, roofless parts of the castle are in a poor structural condition and infested with ivy, with other parts suffering from death watch beetle. None of the earthworks or curtain wall survive, except for a small portion next to the gateway; this fragment of wall is 1.8 m (6 feet) thick and shows the original bank to have been as much as 7.6 m (25 feet) high when viewed from the outside, but is now in danger of collapse. The wooden door on the left side of the gateway probably dates from around 1300, and the right door from the early-17th century, but they are currently unusable. There are some limited remains of the old walled garden interspersed in the modern housing estate. The main castle site is protected under law as a Grade I listed building.

Taken in: UK / Wales / Hay / Hay-on-Wye (show map)

Taken on: April 7, 2016

Tags:

7D MkII

Abandoned

Britain

British

Canon EOS 7D MkII

Cast Aside

Castle

Decayed

Decrepit

Derelict

Deserted

Discarded

Dumped

EOS 7D MkII

Explore

Forgotten

Forsaken

GBR

geo:lat=52.07362333

geo:lon=-3.12611000

geotagged

GPS

Great Britain

Hay Castle

Hay-on-Wye

Historic

http://studia.photos

Left

Medieval

Neglected

Not in Use

Not Used

Obsolete

Old Dart

Powys, Wales

Relics

Ruins

Rusted

Rusting

Rusty

Stuart Smith

stuart.smith@studia.photos

Studia Photos

Thrown Away

Thrown Out

United Kingdom

Wales

Welsh

Wonderful!

Wrecked

www.studia.photos « less

Sets appears in: • Wales UK

Groups appears in: • UK • Palaces, Castles, Towers, Pagodas, Fortresses And Ruins of Old more » • Views: 900 • Any Derelict Building • Ruins Photography • Hay-on-Wye • Photos with 900 (- 999) views • UK Photography Club • Castles and Churches • Castles,Palaces,Manor houses,Cottages - Post 1 Award 2 / Sweeper • views: 900 to 1000 • 100 Years Old + • All about the UK • PLANET EARTH 100 YEAR CLUB • 900 Views Unlimited • Castles, Churches, Palaces and Cathedrals • Great workmanship - past & present • Abandoned, Derelict, Ruins • A PAST RECORD • (A) WORLD HERITAGE TRAIL • Castles, Towers, Chateau, Auberge and Bastions (no 30/60 rule) « less

Stats: 1,200 views / 1 comment

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: