Naughty Bill of Oystermouth Castle

We've always (almost) had a castle at the bottom of our garden. (Well, street/suburb), and have taken this for granted. It's about 900 years old.

We roamed this place as our turf as kids, played in the 'castle field', frolicked in the surrounding woods, building dens & man-traps, had battles with other gangs, and generally got up to no good. 

Our mum passed on the tale of "the ghost of the white lady" who could be summoned by dancing around 'the whipping post' in one of the chambers whilst reciting the correct nursery rhyme. Sadly (?) we never found the right one.

My brother remembers getting a good battering for taking our great grandmothers best tea tray to slide down one of the defensive earthworks. 

This was owned at one time by William de Breos, who Kim christened Naughty Bill, after researching his life. Kim wrote an excellent undergraduate essay entitled 'William de Breos, Lord of Gower 1291–1321 – megalomaniac monster or misunderstood man?

Extracts:-

he was a direct descendant of William de Briouze who was one of the more important barons that followed William the Conqueror from Normandy in 1066  

He would have been present at Oystermouth Castle when King Edward I visited his father there in the winter of 1284

[he] proved to be the worst of all the de Breos type, fraudulent and deceitful in disposition, and as he grew in years going from excess to excess, hated and feared by all about him...his oppressions of the burgesses of Swansea were most grievous, and are clearly indicated in the reliefs afforded them by the tardily-extended reparation conveyed by his charter" (Jones 1920 p.279).

the de Breos family as "a licencentious clan of freebooters who appear to have been so habituated to duplicity and chicanery as to make it impossible for them to be straight-forward and honest in their dealings with their neighbours" (Thomas 1990 p.14).

conclusion, it is obvious that William de Breos was very evidently a poor overlord, a man of dubious morals who was wasteful of his land's resources and short-sighted in his dealings with his tenants, and he very much wanted to retain his Marcher status, a position that he regarded was his by birth-right and was under continued threat by the crown. However, despite these obvious detractions, he cannot really be considered a megalomaniac - he was from a powerful and important dynastic family and was not delusional in this, nor can his fierce guarding of his status be construed as obsessive.  He was obviously ruthless and aggressive too, but seen in the context of the brutal and violent times in which he lived, this does not make him an inhuman monster either.  Therefore, it can be said that William de Breos, whilst almost certainly an "impecunious and irresponsible baron" (Bartlett 2004 p.140), was probably misunderstood, maybe not by his peers but possibly by historians and therefore, history.

Wiki has a page about the castle :-https://en.wikipedia.org, but it looks as if a "Michael Jones" has been a naughty boy, and hacked the page.....

The first Norman castle was founded by Michael Jones of Ogmore Castle soon after 1106 following the capture of Gower by the Normans.^{[citation needed]} In 1116 the Welsh of Deheubarth retook the Gower Peninsula and forced Michael to flee his castle which was put to the torch.^{[citation needed]} 

Some more actual history is provided here: - Oystermouth Castle dates back to the 12th century and is steeped in history.

On a forty foot high limestone ridge overlooking the pretty village of Mumbles Oystermouth Castle is a spectacular location.  

The earliest building remains at Oystermouth Castle, the keep in the central block, date from the early 12th century.

Used as the residence of the Marcher Lords of Gower it was frequently under attack from the local Welsh. In the twelfth century the castle was mainly owned by the first Earl of Warwick and his family. In 1203 the lordship of Gower was given to the de Breos family who ruled until the 1320s when it passed into the hands of the de Mowbray's via Alina de Breos who married John de Mowbray. The de Mowbrays lost Gower to the Beauchamps for some time due to a legal decision and in 1461 it passed to the Herberts, the Somersets and then to the Dukes of Beaufort who held it until 1927 when it was transferred to Swansea Corporation. Currently it is the responsibility of the Swansea Council, with the Friends of Oystermouth Castle looking after the day to day running of the castle during the open season.

A Short History

1106 - Henry Beaumont, Earl of Warwick became the first Norman Lord of Gower, when he divided the area among his followers the manor of Oystermouth was given to the de Londres family.

1116 - Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Tewdr invaded Gower and burnt Oystermouth Castle.

1136 - Large Norman force defeated by Hwyel ap Maredudd on Garngoch common.

1189 - Lord Rhys of Deheubarth plundered Gower.

1192 - Lord Rhys besieged Swansea for ten weeks.

1203 - King John gave Gower to William de Breos.

1215 - Rhys Grug and Rhys Ieunanc, allies of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, attacked Swansea and then captured Oystermouth.

1257 - Llywelyn ap Gruffydd plundered Gower.

1284 - Extensive repairs and extensions to the castle completed for the visit of Edward I on 10th and 11th of December.

1287 - Rhys ap Maredudd attacked and burnt Swansea and captured Oystermouth.

1302 - William de Langton tried to bring complaints against the King and was kidnapped by John Iweyn, steward of Oystermouth Castle and held prisoner until he withdrew his claims.

1302 + 1314 William de Breos signs a bond and two grants at Oystermouth.

1329 - Alina de Mowbray dated a conveyance at Oystermouth.

1334 + 1350 - Alina's son John was at Oystermouth and made grants to the abbeys of Neath and Margam.

1403 - 1405 - Gower controlled by Owain Glyndwr.

1451 - Sir Hugh Johnys was constable of Oystermouth Castle.

1461 - Gower passes to the Herberts.

1927 - The Duke of Beaufort transfers Oystermouth Castle to Swansea Corporation.

1989 - Friends of Oystermouth Castle founded.

other links:-

https://www.castlewales.com/oyster.html

https://biography.wales/article/s-BRAO-SE0-1066