Pembroke Castle

Pembroke Castle stands on a site that was occupied during the Roman period, and recent discoveries in Wogan Cave underneath the castle show humans occupied the site at the end of the last ice age. Roger of Montgomery founded the first castle here in 1073. The castle was established at the heart of the Norman-controlled lands of southwest Wales.

Roger's son Arnulf strengthened the castle and appointed Gerald de Windsor as his castellan at Pembroke, after which it withstood a major siege in 1092. When William Rufus died, Arnulf de Montgomery joined his elder brother, Robert of Bellême, in rebellion against Henry I, William's brother and successor as king; when the rebellion failed, he was forced to forfeit his lands and titles. Henry appointed his castellan, but when the chosen ally turned out to be incompetent, the King reappointed Gerald in 1102.

in the castle]] In August 1189 Richard I arranged the marriage of Isabel, de Clare's granddaughter, to William Marshal who received both the castle and the title, Earl of Pembroke. He had the castle rebuilt in stone and established the great keep at the same time. Marshal was succeeded in turn by each of his five sons. His third son, Gilbert Marshal, was responsible for enlarging and further strengthening the castle between 1234 and 1241. All of Marshal's sons died childless.