Croes Caeriw | |
 | |
| 51°41′53″N4°49′40″W / 51.698034°N 4.827801°W | |
| Location | Carew, Pembrokeshire |
|---|---|
| Type | Celtic cross |
| Material | Stone |
| Height | 4 metres (13 ft) |
| Completion date | 11th century |
Carew Cross (Welsh : Croes Caeriw) [1] is an 11th-century Grade I listed [2] monument in the village of Carew, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
The cross is an important example of an 11th-century memorial Celtic cross and is believed to commemorate the brother of Hywel ab Edwin, Maredudd ab Edwin of Deheubarth, who died in 1035. The brothers were joint rulers of Deheubarth, and the cross is thought to date from around the time of Maredudd's death. It was first known to be placed in Carew, Pembrokeshire, from around 1690. The previous location for the stone is unknown. It is suspected that when it was moved to Carew, it was as ornamentation for nearby Carew Castle. The damage to the cross, where part of the stone has flaked away, occurred prior to 1690. [3]
In 1811, the cross stood on a low plinth. [4] The plinth was altered around 15 years later to align it with the newly lowered road. The top stone became dislodged in 1844, and it was re-set in the slot with lead. The cross was moved away from the road in 1925, and again during the Second World War, when it was relocated to the nearby castle for protection. Following the war, it was placed back by the roadside, but on at a new position. [3]
The monument was Grade I listed on 14 May 1970; the reason description given was "Listed grade I as a characteristically Welsh composite cross and one of the finest early Christian monuments in Wales." [3] It was the Carew Cross that inspired the symbol of Cadw. [5]
It is similar in design to the cross at Nevern. [3] It is inscribed, on the west face "MARGIT EUT REX ETG [uin] FILIUS" and otherwise decorated in abstract patterns. [6] The cross is 4 metres (13 ft) tall and is in two parts, joined by a tenon joint. The top is Carmarthenshire sandstone and the lower portion is igneous-type stone from Preseli. [3]
Rhys ap Gruffydd or ap Gruffudd was the ruler of the kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales from 1155 to 1197. Today, he is commonly known as The Lord Rhys, in Welsh Yr Arglwydd Rhys, although this title may have not been used in his lifetime. He usually used the title "Proprietary Prince of Deheubarth" or "Prince of South Wales", but two documents have been discovered in which he uses the title "Prince of Wales" or "Prince of the Welsh". Rhys was one of the most successful and powerful Welsh princes, and, after the death of Owain Gwynedd of Gwynedd in 1170, the dominant power in Wales.
Dolwyddelan Castle is a thirteenth-century castle located west of Dolwyddelan in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Tomen Castell, a late twelfth-century tower, is located south-east of the castle.
Deheubarth was a regional name for the realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to Gwynedd. It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under the House of Dinefwr, but that Deheubarth itself was not considered a proper kingdom on the model of Gwynedd, Powys, or Dyfed is shown by its rendering in Latin as dextralis pars or as Britonnes dexterales and not as a named land. In the oldest British writers, Deheubarth was used for all of modern Wales to distinguish it from Hen Ogledd, the northern lands whence Cunedda originated.
Nevern is both a parish and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The community includes the settlements of Felindre Farchog, Monington, Moylgrove and Bayvil. The small village lies in the Nevern valley near the Preseli Hills of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park 2 miles (3 km) east of Newport on the B4582 road.
Carew Castle is a castle in the civil parish of Carew in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The Carew family take their name from this site and have owned the castle for more than 900 years. It is leased to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park for administration purposes. .
Dolwyddelan is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The community occupies most of the valley of the Afon Lledr, and contains the settlements of Dolwyddelan, Pentre Bont, Blaenau Dolwyddelan, and Pont-y-Pant. It lies within Snowdonia, and the surrounding hills are part of the Moelwynion range. The population of the community was recorded as 454 in the 2021 census, and in the 2011 census the proportion of Welsh speakers was recorded as 50.8%.
Cilgerran Castle is a 13th-century ruined castle located in Cilgerran, Pembrokeshire, Wales, near Cardigan. The first castle on the site was thought to have been built by Gerald of Windsor around 1110–1115, and it changed hands several times over the following century between English and Welsh forces. In the hands of William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, the construction of the stone castle began after 1223.
Carreg Cennen Castle is a castle sited on a high rocky outcrop overlooking the River Cennen, close to the village of Trap, four miles south east of Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Castell Carreg Cennen means castle on a rock next to Cennen, the river name itself being a reference either to cen meaning lichen or perhaps a personal name.
Wiston Castle is a motte and bailey castle in the Pembrokeshire village of Wiston in south west Wales and is one of the best examples of its type in Wales. The castle and village were founded by Wizo, a Flemish settler who was granted the land by Henry I of England after he had wrested control from the previous owner, Arnulf de Montgomery. The castle was captured by the Welsh on several occasions but on each occasion it was retaken. It was abandoned during the thirteenth century when the then owner moved to nearby Picton Castle.
Dinefwr Castle is a ruined castle overlooking the River Towy near the town of Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on a ridge on the northern bank of the Towy, with a steep drop of one hundred feet to the river. Dinefwr was the chief seat of the Dinefwr dynasty of the Kingdom of Deheubarth. The castle is a Grade I listed building.
Raglan is a village and community in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales. It is located some 9 miles south-west of Monmouth, midway between Monmouth and Abergavenny on the A40 road very near to the junction with the A449 road. It is the location of Raglan Castle, built for William ap Thomas and now maintained by Cadw. The community includes the villages of Llandenny and Pen-y-clawdd. Raglan itself has a population of 1,183.
Dryslwyn Castle is a native Welsh castle, sited on a rocky hill roughly halfway between Llandeilo and Carmarthen in Wales. It stands on high ground overlooking the Tywi Valley with extensive views. It was built in about the 1220s by one of the princes of the kingdom of Deheubarth, and changed hands several times in the struggles between the Welsh and English over the ensuing centuries. It is considered one of the most important remaining structures built by a Welsh chieftain and is a Grade I listed building.
The Kingdom of Dyfed, one of several Welsh petty kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century sub-Roman Britain in southwest Wales, was based on the former territory of the Demetae. The medieval Irish narrative The Expulsion of the Déisi attributes the kingdom's founding to Eochaid, son of Artchorp, who was forced across the Irish sea in the 5th century; his descendants founded the line of the kings of Dyfed down to "Tualodor mac Rígin". The Normans invaded Wales, and by 1138 incorporated Dyfed into a new shire called Pembrokeshire after the Norman castle built in the Cantref of Penfro and under the rule of the Marcher Earl of Pembroke.
Carew is a village, parish and community on an inlet of Milford Haven in the former Hundred of Narberth, Pembrokeshire, West Wales, 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Pembroke. The eastern part of the parish is in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
Llawhaden is a village, parish and community in mid-Pembrokeshire, West Wales, historically in the Hundred of Dungleddy. The community of Llawhaden includes the parish of Robeston Wathen, part of Narberth and the hamlet of Gelli, and had a population of 634 in 2001, increasing to 688 at the 2011 Census.
Cemais was an ancient cantref of the Kingdom of Dyfed, from the 11th century a Norman Marcher Lordship, from the 16th century a Hundred, and is now part of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It occupied the coastal area between the Teifi estuary and Fishguard, and the northern and southern slopes of the Preseli Hills, covering an area of approximately 140 square miles (360 km2). The Afon Nyfer divided it into two commotes: Cemais Is Nyfer to the north and Cemais Uwch Nyfer to the south.
Gerald de Windsor, aliasGerald FitzWalter, was an Cymro-Norman lord who was the first Castellan of Pembroke Castle in Pembrokeshire. Son of the first Norman-French Constable of Windsor Castle, and married to a Welsh Princess daughter of the King of Deheubarth, he was in charge of the Norman forces in south-west Wales. He was also steward and governor for the Norman magnate Arnulf de Montgomery. His descendants were the FitzGerald dynasty, as well as the FitzMaurice, De Barry, and Keating dynasties of Ireland, who were elevated to the Peerage of Ireland in the 14th century. He was also the ancestor of the prominent Carew family, of Moulsford in Berkshire, the owners of Carew Castle in Pembrokeshire and of Mohuns Ottery in Devon.
The Royal House of Dinefwr was a cadet branch of the Royal House of Gwynedd, founded by King Cadell ap Rhodri, son of Rhodri the Great. Their ancestor, Cunedda Wledig, born in late Roman Britain, was a Sub-Roman warlord who founded the Kingdom of Gwynedd during the 5th century, following the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. As Celtic Britons, the House of Dinefwr was ruling before the Norman conquest, having to fight with their neighbors such as the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, before struggling with the Normans afterwards. Many members of this family were influential in Welsh history, such as Hywel Dda, who codified Welsh law under his rule, and achieved the important title of King of the Britons, or Lord Rhys, Prince of Wales, who rebelled against Richard the Lionheart, and became one of the most powerful Welsh leaders of the Middle Ages.
Tenby Castle was a fortification standing on a headland separated by an isthmus from the town of Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The remaining stone structure dates from the 13th century but there are mentions of the castle from as early as 1153. It is a Grade II* listed building.
