A HISTORY OF HEREFORDSHIRE to this court is now hardly to be traced, and the inner platform has been much dug about. LoNGTOWN Castle." — This border stronghold, once of great importance, is situated 13 miles south-west of Hereford. It stands between, and 100 ft. above, the River Monnow, which flows a quarter of a mile east, and the Olchon Brook, a quarter of a mile
- west. The land rises on all sides,
|i except on the south, the Black Mountains, a mile and a quarter to the west, reachine the height of ^xP^^^^'i^i'-- ij75oft. above sea level. The earth- !!)..«*'^ ' %^:>-^ ^pt«' work remains consist of (i) a mount, upon which is a circular stone keep, ^^i the height of the earthen mount •t-s^M.<L!§i •"'% ' — ' — ' ' to the visible base of the stonework; ir^'^ '• WWi^iS"^*^^'*"'-' " «" being •jc ft. from the eastern fosse A2.Ji^^^B '^ftjV'"" ■§ (2) a base-court or bailey on the s'o i* ^ AncitiHr chopti south-south-east of the mount, de- .364 rr «.»<.« A". tended by a stone wall, banked on LoNGTowN Castle the inside ; (3) an entrance court lying south-west of the whole work; (4) an outer inclosure on the east, rectangular in form, which forms with the rest of the work a rough square, defended by a powerful rampart and a fosse — the latter formerly much deeper than it is now. Though the mount and appendant courts appear to be of Norman or later origin, it is possible that a rectangular work existed earlier and was modified by adaptation to feudal requirements. Mount castles abound in this part, that of Lower Pont-Hendre being less than three-quarters of a mile south-by-east. LoNGTowN : Lower Pont-Hendre. — This small castle work stands above the River Olchon, close to and west of its junction with the River Monnow, and less than three-quarters of a mile from Longtown Castle. The entrenchments, which are naturally protected on the north-east by the river, consist of: (i) a mount some 33 ft. high, surrounded by a moat ; (2) a court protected by the hill-side, scarped on the north-east and guarded by a rampart upon the other sides ; but there is now no sign of an outside moat to the court. A feature of special interest is the nearness of this stronghold to Longtown Castle, to which reference has just been made. Lyonshall Castle. — This stronghold is situated 2 miles east of Kington, standing upon ground 600 ft. above sea level and 1 60 ft. above the River Arrow, which flows three-quarters of a mile on the north-west. The entrenchments appear to have consisted of a circular ramparted keep, protected by a stone wall, and water moat. On the north side of, and within this inclosure, was a small tower of masonry banked on the outside with earth to the height of about 5 ft. North of the keep-mount was a court, or bailey, of square form, defended upon the north-west by a ditch and two ramparts ; the defences of the other sides are vague. Another inclosure may have existed upon the north-east. A sketch, dated 1869, appears in " Longtown is now recognized as a parish, but was formerly a chapelry of Clodock. 242
