Castell Bronllys

In 1144 Roger Fitzmiles, Earl of Hereford, detached the land surrounding Bronllys from the Lordship of Brecknock, and gave it to Richard's son, Walter de Clifford, who then rebuilt the castle in stone. Walter seems to have been responsible for building the round tower on the motte, as in 1165 it caught fire and a stone tumbling from the battlements killed Earl Roger's last surviving brother Mahel de Hereford; Gerald of Wales claims that, while dying from the injury, Mahel repented of his previous persecution of the Bishop of St Davids, which he blamed for his fate.

Maud (the daughter) died in 1311, and Edward II gave the castle to Rhys ap Hywel (a local resident descendant of the former kings of Brycheiniog) as reward for loyalty to the crown. Rhys rebelled against the machinations of Edward's favourite and the king took back Bronllys; after Rhys helped depose Edward, being a member of the search party who seized him, he regained Bronllys. Bronllys was inherited by Rhys' son, Philip ap Rhys.

Following the deposition and death of Richard II, the Glyndŵr Rising broke out in Wales. The castle was fortified against Owain Glyndŵr's forces, but Bronllys was never again occupied. Anne of Gloucester, daughter of Mary de Bohun's elder sister Eleanor, petitioned Henry for her grandfather's lands to be returned to her. Anne's son, and heir, Humphrey Stafford, inherited the Earldom of Buckingham from his uncle, and was raised to Duke as a reward for his loyalty to Bolinbroke's heirs.