Usk Town - planted by the Normans

Usk Town
   This is a familiar view of Usk's Twyn Square, proudly flower-filled in the summer months, with the Norman castle visible in the background behind the trees. Monmouthshire is rich in castles of this period and round them grew settlements which drew a living from supplying the Marcher Lords and their followers with necessary goods and help for defence. Trade was brisk between towns which held markets on different days of the week with merchants travelling from one to the next, replenishing their supplies at ports on Saturdays.

Planting a town
   There is evidence that Usk was different in that it was deliberately planned and developed by the Normans (much as new towns have been in our day) rather than rising organically and spontaneously. The layout of this settlement did not follow the line of the Roman fort of the 1st century AD but was laid out from scratch by Richard Strongbow de Clare between December 1154 and May 1170. It is possible that the famous knight William Marshall extended it but it certainly reached its fullest extent within its defences between 1280 and 1295. The de Clares had a custom (intended to confuse later historians!) of naming alternate elder sons Richard or Gilbert and this has made it difficult to trace ownership of particular pieces of land.
    William I, after his conquest in 1066, appointed three close allies as lords over a portion of the Welsh Marches, the southern area being under the control of William fitzOsbern, builder of Chepstow Castle, who probably visited Caerleon. (Were ALL Norman men called William?) Their remit was to keep the unruly locals in check by whatever means they felt appropriate and they had a great deal of autonomy. Probably in 1149, aged 18, Richard succeeded him as Earl of Pembroke and, later and less prestigiously, as Lord of Striguil (Chepstow).  He devoted much energy to "a bold adventure in another country [Ireland]" but, in his spare time, he created the town of Usk.

Development
   The date of the plantation of the town is probably close to that of the issuing of a charter setting up the Benedictine Priory in the mid 12th century as detailed above. The large block of Priory land fitted into the street plan of the town. The map attached to the excellent book Norman Usk by A. G. Mein shows burgage plots on both sides of Bridge Street and surrounding the old Market place in Twyn Square, the whole leading into Priory land between the church and Pook lane. These plots were standard-sized, with narrow frontages but with long extensions behind them and had a fixed annual rent of one shilling. They had a tendency to creep forwards encroaching on the street as temporary sales pitches on their fronts became permanent - the law seems to have failed to prevent this. A example is the western side of Twyn Square where the placing of the market forced travellers through it to spend their money at the illegal stalls. The temptation to inch forwards into prominence must have been overwhelming.

   A Medieval ditch was discovered by Professor Manning during his 1975 excavations of the cattle market and is still referred to as Clawdd Ddu (black ditch) and a pavement marker may be seen in Maryport Street at the far end. It ran up behind Mill Street and New Market Street, behind Bridge Street, beyond Four Ash and back behind the prison. It extended for a distance of 2200 yards enclosing an area of about 95 acres and was probably defensive although rather weakly fortified as there was only an earthen rampart with, perhaps, a wooden palisade.

Earlier and later
    In AD 75 most of the Second Augustan Roman Legion left Usk (Burrium) for Caerleon (Isca) largely because of flooding which, in particular, threatened their granaries, but their presence means that Usk has a long history of settlement. Even the centurion's knees must have suffered in our climate!

Tracks through Time tour by Jeremy Bosanquet

Other towns in later centuries had imposing Town Criers in scarlet robes and black tricorne hats resonantly and clearly intoning the latest news but Usk had Billo Wisham. He was small and shabbily dressed in an overlong, erstwhile black, coat and tweed check cap. His USP was indistinct pronunciation so that no-one was sure whether to attend a jumble sale, a concert, a carnival or merely to take precautions because the water was about to be turned off. He always ended with a prayer for the King.

This blog usually ends each post by encouraging the consumption of a large piece of CAKE after a visit to a site of historic interest and Usk offers many opportunities for wholesome calorific consumption - such as the delicious items in the Green Flute cafe, handily situated in the main car park (oops! but I know some of you travel in private motors) and open even when the Rural Life Museum is closed. When you have re-energised yourself you could visit Usk Castle, the memorial to Alfred Russel Wallace or the battle site of Pwll Melin where Owain Glyn Dwr's forces suffered a momentous defeat. Chepstow Castle can be reached by the 63 bus on a lovely scenic route. For details of buses, click here or use the link to timetables on the footer.
For more on Usk's founder, Richard Strongbow de Clare, click here.

Markets in the Middle Ages in South Wales: Medieval retail therapy

  Markets have been held in the Welsh Marches since Medieval times: this one, in Abergavenny has been on Tuesdays for nearly 800 years. We have a reference to it between 1256 and 1267 when Lord Edward was in possession of the lordships of Abergavenny, Monmouth and the Three Castles.          Recently some official (officious?) pronouncement advised the elderly that, when walking on icy pavements, they should imitate the gait of the penguin and toddle slowly, beak down and body bent forward. That is exactly how I proceed in a market so that I am sure of spotting any bargains whilst honing my bartering skills.
   Before the advent of markets, trade was more in the form of barter and we know that a good horse was worth 12 cows as was a quality hawk or a sword: the earliest mention of money in this area was towards the end of the 11th century when payment was in gold or silver or even in coins from Saxon England. An interesting cashless sale by 2 brothers in 740 was 500 acres of land between the Rivers Monnow and Wye in exchange for 24 cows, a good horse, a precious sword and a Saxon woman but we do not know who received what.

The growth and organisation of markets
   Towns grew up around the great castles imposed by the Norman conquerors in the Welsh Marches and provided defence as well as supplying goods. A chain of markets in these settlements evolved according to 2 different systems: the "trader" model and the "consumer" type. It is likely that the Marches combined both. In the trader model, local markets were held on consecutive weekdays within a day's journey of one another so that a merchant could visit them all in turn and stock up on Saturday at ports such as Gloucester.
   There were 2 circuits in Monmouthshire although they were probably not discrete: Grosmont held a market on Mondays; Abergavenny on Tuesdays; Monmouth on Wednesdays; Ross on Thursdays and Newent on Fridays. There was another market at Grosmont on Fridays, a Monday and Thursday one at Crickhowell and one established later on Wednesdays at Tretower. On a different route, Usk's day was Monday, Tryleg's Wednesday, Caerleon's Thursday and Newport's on Saturday, leaving Tuesday again free for Abergavenny. Where there was sufficient trade, markets could be held in nearby places on the same day (consumer model) and there were others I have not mentioned.

   Records for a comparable town (Newark in 1328) show that goods traded included: corn, salted meat and bacon, furs, sheep, goats, pigs, fresh meat, fleeces, tanned hides, cloth, iron, steel, tin, woad, wine, wool, fruit, nuts, timber, horses, hay, rushes glass, garlic, salt, firewood, coal, nails and horseshoes. To maximise trade, markets were placed so that travellers had to pass through them to go on their way and shops may have grown around them. The trade they engendered in the 13th and 14th centuries did not reach such intensity again until the agrarian and industrial revolutions. Records reveal exports, too, into England from Chepstow, Caerleon and Usk of salmon, oxen, pigs, lampreys, partridges, malt and vinegar.

Their place in the political structure
    Permission for markets and fairs in South East Wales was in the hands of the Marcher Lords (not in the control of the king as in England) and these happenings became part of a calculated political strategy for their emerging aspirations. Such commercial dealings led to great social change as surplus consumers and traders were brought together in a recognised place from which a ruling elite could draw revenue. This facilitated the funding of armies so that territorial ambitions could be fulfilled. It was therefore in the best interest of the lords to encourage an efficient system in their area and the process of establishing a market went along with the growth of a new town and borough. A lord would then have to co-operate or at least take into account the patterns of trade in a neighbouring lordship of which there were several in this area in that period. No point in disrupting a working economy!

   We still love a market and the bustle and excitement that a good one creates. Added to this we can enjoy a sense of partaking in a way of life that is hundreds of years old - and, as always in this blog, savour a large slice of CAKE after our retail therapy.

In the Tithe Barn cafe, Abergavenny

As these towns mostly grew up around castles, you might like to fit in a visit whilst you are there. I have written about Abergavenny Castle, Usk Castle and Monmouth Castle and there are also the Roman remains at Caerleon and fascinating things to see at Trellech (Tryleg.) Of the Three Castles, Skenfrith, Grosmont and White Castles, I have, so far, covered the last.

Abergavenny Castle - the Massacre

   As you enter these gates to Abergavenny Castle you are probably planning to gaze at the walls and remaining buildings, take some photos and eat your packed lunch on the grass or seats provided. The grounds are green, tended and peaceful with stunning views of the Blorenge Mountain.

   Yet you might wonder what Giraldus Cambriensis referred to in the Middle Ages when he refused to relate some terrifying atrocities that happened here: "lest they serve to encourage other equally infamous men."

The background

   Giraldus was almost certainly thinking of the massacre of 1175 about one hundred years after the construction of the castle circa 1087 by Hamelin de Balun, a Norman lord. The story starts with the killing in the 1160's of Henry Fitzmiles, the 3rd son of the Earl of Hereford, by Seisyll ap Dyfawal, (aka Sytsyll ap Dyferwald) the most important Welsh chieftain in the area. Seisyll had previously captured the castle. The contemporary owner of the castle, William de Braose, determined on revenge for the murder, although it is difficult to see why as he benefited from the death of his uncle Henry, inheriting de Balun lands and the castle. itself.
     Perhaps he wanted to eliminate Welsh factions at a stroke - but he only succeeded in perpetuating the violence.

Blood and Retribution

   At Christmas 1175 de Braose invited Seisyll, his son Geoffrey and all the leading chieftains of Powys for a visit, supposedly of reconciliation and harmony. They accepted and, according to custom, laid down their arms once inside their host's premises. They were instantly set upon and slaughtered in an act of treachery and brutality. The Normans then went to the Welshman's home, destroyed it and, when they found his 7 year old son, Cadwaladr, cuddled in his mother's arms, they cut him down too.  

   Yet in 1182 Hywel ap Iowerth of Caerleon and other kinsmen of Seisyll captured the castle again using scaling ladders and burned the place down. As William Camden, an antiquarian, said in the 16th century this castle: "... has been oftner stain'd with the infamy of treachery, than any other castle in Wales."

The Context - not for the squeamish!

   These events may have seemed to some unusual or even unique but the 12th century was a time of extreme violence. Unlike the Romans who spread their empire with some successful attempts at Romanising the conquered people, the Normans tried to subdue their captured territory by force. This cruelty was common also amongst the Welsh warlords themselves. In the rivalries men were blinded so that they could not be effective military leaders and castrated so that they could not bear heirs. I have written more about the cruel William de Braoze on this blog.

Nowadays

   As you have seen, I have rushed in where the cautious Gerald of Wales feared to tread. I am sure I have not incited you to storm the castle walls! Now, on the very spot where once those semi-sacred bonds between host and guest were mercilessly broken, you will have an interesting visit. You can eat your simple or lavish picnic in the grounds and enjoy a warm - and genuine - welcome in the Museum, and in the town generally.  The beautiful Linda Vista gardens are quite near for relaxation. More historical interest is to be found in the Tithe Barn, with its excellent CAKE opportunities, located in the centre of Abergavenny. The medieval effigies in St Mary's Church are fascinating. All are a short walk from the bus station.

By the River Wye at Chepstow

An attraction for all
   The name Chepstow derives from the Old English "chepe stowe" meaning a place of trade or market centre. After the Norman Conquest the town became a key location as the Normans could cross at the low bridging point and extend themselves into Wales. In the late eighteenth century a growing fashionable interest in the picturesque attracted visitors and painters who took boats from Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth. They admired nearby Tintern Abbey, Piercefield House and the ruins of Chepstow Castle in their yearning for romantic beauty.

Relax by the river
   Nowadays it is worth taking time to pause by the river and walk over the Wye via the 1816 cast iron bridge into England (I told you we'd be going abroad on our microadventures!) Before that there was a ferry called by the Romans Tratica Augustus; a later one was used by Charles I when fleeing a troop of Cromwell's men. On the Welsh side there is also a pretty bandstand used for concerts in the summer, the best Information Centre I have ever been into and the Museum. There are magnificent limestone cliffs and the river here has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world, dropping by almost 15 metres between high and low tide. There are some lovely walks from here.

Walking down through the town
   Before you leave you will probably want to visit the castle. Chepstow is served by several buses including the 65 and 69 (the 69 takes you to Tintern Abbey) to Monmouth and the 63 to Usk with its castle,several from Newport as well as local ones and some from England. The bus station is at the top of town (near an M&S Food Hall): you then pass under the Town Gate, rebuilt in 1524 from its late 13 century origins and renovated since, down one of the attractive streets until you reach the river.