Bonville's Hen Castle
Bonville’s Castle, also called Hen Castle, is located near the village of Saundersfoot and is one of Pembrokeshire’s least understood medieval sites. Antiquarian accounts describe traces of a rectangular stone tower or hall belonging to the Bonville family, who held land in the region in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The site later became buried beneath agricultural deposits and woodland, and by the nineteenth century it had largely disappeared from view. The castle likely served as a small fortified residence rather than a military stronghold. Pembrokeshire contains numerous minor tower houses and defended manorial centres, especially in the southern half of the county where Anglo-Norman settlement was dense. Hen Castle may represent one of these small domestic fortresses, perhaps abandoned when the family established residences elsewhere. Today the site is extremely difficult to locate, with the remains largely concealed by vegetation. There are no standing walls, although subsurface masonry has been reported in historical surveys. Bonville’s Castle stands as an example of how lesser medieval residences can vanish almost entirely from the landscape. Alternate names: Hen Castle, Castell Hen, Bonville’s Fort
Bonville's Hen Castle
Bonville’s Castle, also called Hen Castle, is located near the village of Saundersfoot and is one of Pembrokeshire’s least understood medieval sites. Antiquarian accounts describe traces of a rectangular stone tower or hall belonging to the Bonville family, who held land in the region in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The site later became buried beneath agricultural deposits and woodland, and by the nineteenth century it had largely disappeared from view. The castle likely served as a small fortified residence rather than a military stronghold. Pembrokeshire contains numerous minor tower houses and defended manorial centres, especially in the southern half of the county where Anglo-Norman settlement was dense. Hen Castle may represent one of these small domestic fortresses, perhaps abandoned when the family established residences elsewhere. Today the site is extremely difficult to locate, with the remains largely concealed by vegetation. There are no standing walls, although subsurface masonry has been reported in historical surveys. Bonville’s Castle stands as an example of how lesser medieval residences can vanish almost entirely from the landscape.