The ruins of Wigmore Castle are little more than four miles further than the field of battle, on the road from Leominster, from which it is about nine miles and a half distant; and when I was on three occasions in the neighbourhood, I did not hesitate to prolong my excursion, and visit the remains of a castle which in days of yore was of importance, and a principal residence of the Mortimers and of Richard Duke of York. Leland does not give any information of moment respecting the castle, but merely states concisely, “Wigmore Castle a XX myles from Shreusbiri, standing on a Brooket sumtime almost dry.” [77]
The ruins are upon a considerable eminence, and are sadly shattered, both by time and wilful spoliation, though they still are interesting, and of commanding appearance.
So much of the castle has been destroyed, that it is not possible to determine with accuracy its original plan and arrangements. Some of the outside walls, an arch, and other small parts of the principal gateway, and some considerable portions of the keep, still remain, much of which are covered with ivy; the moat is also tolerably perfect in most places; and the ruins of the keep stand within the castle upon a naturally high elevation, which has been considerably raised by artificial means. The keep has formerly been further strengthened by an interior moat, which separated it from the rest of the castle.
Most of the walls have been built of a slaty kind of stone, which has a tendency to splinter and crumble from the effects of the weather and frost, so that the remains do not appear likely to have a very long continuance. In approaching the entrance, there are some appearances visible, of a rampart and ditch, extending to the right, and also for a little distance to the left, of the gateway; there are not, however, any signs of masonry upon the rampart; but, if it formerly formed part of the outworks or outward defences of the castle, it probably has been fortified with palisades or stakes.
The church and little village of Wigmore are close to the castle. The church is a plain stone Gothic edifice, of great antiquity. It contains sedilia, and also a piscina, both of remarkable construction: the former being literally stone seats separated by stone partitions perfectly plain, without any canopies or arches; and the latter being placed on the acute angle of some masonry near them. The roof of the church is of a very unusual description, as it is of massive oak timber, waggon-shaped, and apparently of great age; and a large part of the outside wall of the north side of the nave is built with the stones set in the herringbone fashion, which is now very rarely to be met with, and is usually considered a proof of its remote antiquity.
A chapel, now demolished, originally stood on another part of the north side of the church, as is proved by the piscina still remaining on the outside of it; and the arch through which the entrance was obtained into it from the church, being still apparent in the north wall.
Considering the great utility of the castle, as a bridle to incursions from the borders of Wales, formerly a hostile country, its importance to the lords of the Welsh marches, and its having been a residence of the powerful Mortimers, who had more than once caused kings to feel uneasy on their thrones, I was a little surprised not to find it of more extensive size; nor did I consider its position to have been naturally as strong, as might have been expected, for such a fortress.
Here the traveller finds himself in a district upon the borders of Wales, which in a remote age, and when the principality was considered as a hostile country, was a part of the Welsh marches, and the personages in command there, were designated Lords Marchers. [78a] They were so called, from the word marche, or limit. They had Courts of Marche, in which they tried causes of different kinds, and especially offences against the public peace, which went by the name of Marche Treason. [78b] The Mortimers often held that important office upon the borders of Wales.
There were in Wales, and the borders of England, adjoining the principality, 141 manors, of large extent, possessed by the Lords Marchers, who enjoyed almost regal rights upon their lands, and administered justice within their several districts, without the intervention of the King’s judges. [79a] The excessive authority and local jurisdictions of the Lords Marchers, in this debatable land, were abolished by an act of Parliament, in the time of Henry VIII. [79b]
The drive from Leominster to Wigmore is interesting and pleasant. The view from Wigmore Castle is extensive and beautiful; an amphitheatre of mountains forms a background, between which and the castle, is a very extensive plain, over which, in days of yore, the powerful Mortimers could survey, from the towers and battlements, their vast possessions, and, as mighty feudal lords, they also could despotically command the property, services, and even the lives of nearly all who resided within the district.