Goodrich Castle, West Midlands

The area around Goodrich Castle has been occupied for over 1,000 years. Goodrich Castle was built alongside the River Wye and thus would have been able to control an important crossing point, which was one of the main routes between England and Wales. The first castle here was started shortly after the Norman Conquest, and the castle is recorded in the Doomsday book records of 1086.  In 1138, King Stephen transferred Goodrich Castle to Gilbert Fitz Gilbert de Clare, and promoted him to Earl of Pembroke.  After 10 years Gilbert died, and his son Richard ‘Stongbow’ de Clare inherited.  Having served King Stephen faithfully, he found himself out of favour when Henry II came to the throne in 1154. Richard seems to have left England after this and pursued greater conquests in Ireland. On his death the castle reverted to the Crown, who held it for Richard’s daughter Isabelle who had become the King’s ward. 

The keep at Goodrich Castle predates all the other buildings, and is thought to have been built during either Gilbert or Richards ownership in the first half of the 12th Century.  The keep represents the first recorded stone structure on the site, and its masonry is of a higher quality than subsequent work. It is of coursed ashlar construction, using grey conglomerate, probably from the Forest of Dean a few miles to the south. The original entrance was at first-floor level in the north wall, above the present 15th or 16th Century doorway, and was probably reached by a wooden staircase.

Isabelle de Clare was married in 1189.  Her marriage was arranged by King Henry II, but it was Richard I who would approve his father’s plans. Isabelle brought to her new husband not only the Earldom of Pembroke, but a vast amount of land in England, Wales and Ireland. Her new husband, who had been born a landless Knight, but who had risen to the highest ranks, and would go on to serve four medieval Kings, was none other than William Marshal. At their marriage William, who was around the age of 43 when he married the 17-year-old Isabelle, was also granted the border castles of Chepstow and Usk.  The Crown did not pass all the estates back to Isabelle at once, and it wasn’t until 1204 that Goodrich Castle finally came into their possession.  William and Isabelle had five sons, all of whom succeeded to the title of Earl of Pembroke, and all of them died without producing an heir, so the estate was divided amongst the five surviving daughters of William Marshall. 

Each of William Marshall’s daughters would eventually receive one fifth of his estate. His youngest daughter, Joanna, had married Warin de Munchensi of Swancombe.  It is through Joanna that Goodrich Castle would eventually pass to his granddaughter, Joan.  Joanna had three children but both sons died without heirs, so it was their daughter Joan who survived to marry, and would inherit Goodrich Castle along with many other properties in England, Wales and Ireland. After the death of Joanna, Joan’s father remarried and she was sent to be raised in the King’s household for at least part of her youth. 

Joan’s marriage was arranged by King Henry III, who chose to marry her into his own family.  William de Valence was the half-brother of King Henry III. William was born in Valence, in France, in 1223. He was the son of Isabella of Angouleme, by her second husband Hugh de Lusignan, whom she had married after her first husband, King John of England had died. At the invitation of King Henry III, William together with his brothers and sister, came to England.  William and Joan were married in 1247, they were around the same age, both are thought to have been in their late teens.

Joan de Valence was the granddaughter of William Marshal and inherited one fifth of the Marshall estate. It is difficult for us to imagine how much Joan’s life changed when her brother died.  She was not born to inherit a fortune, but after the death of all five of her uncles, and her brother, one fifth of the Marshall inheritance was hers.  It would be like someone today suddenly inheriting a multibillion-dollar company, which also owned may other smaller subsidiary companies, while having shares in many other companies in at least three countries, and suddenly being thrust into the management of it all at the age of 18.  It must have been completely overwhelming.  We often see people fail at this, having not been trained in management, but Joan learned it.  She and her husband would successfully run their estates, and keep meticulous records. While they both had many knowledgeable people employed in the running of their affairs, if the head of the household was not able to keep the helm of the ship running, it would quickly veer off course.

Although the castle at Goodrich belonged to Joan, and through marriage to William de Valence after the death of Joan’s brother in 1247, the only part of it which they choose to leave as they found it, was the Norman keep.  They embarked on a rebuilding program that would virtually replace the rest of the existing castle, and its rebuilding would include the latest in castle design, as well as modern amenities. It was during Joan and William’s ownership of Goodrich, that grants of oak trees and the presence of royal clerks and workmen were recorded in the 1280s-90s, suggesting that substantial rebuilding was taking place, and the majority of the present structure dates from this period.  Many of the rooms around the courtyard contain fireplaces, window seats, wash basins and garderobes. The old keep was downgraded to create a prison, and three additional ranges were built, each with a hall and three- storey residential tower. The small square keep is dated as c. 1140 (although there remains some contention about the dating).

In the late 13th Century, the de Valences built the quadrangular castle, built in its present form from red sandstone quarried from the moat, as the castle sits on sandstone bedrock. This impressive ditch averages 27m wide by 8m deep, and defends the south and east sides. It was not necessary on the west and north sides of the castle, where steep slopes provided adequate natural defence.   Joan and William had spent many years expanding and modernizing Goodrich Castle, and all their hard work had resulted in a very comfortable and modern residence.  The domestic arrangements included large fireplace, garderobes and running water in the solar, where a basin and tap were set into the wall, and water was directed from the well for the use of the women in the solar.  William had been an avid hunter and Joan may have shared his interest, as she had a large aviary at Goodrich and made sure her children’s and visitors hawks were well cared for. There was also easy access to hunting grounds in the Forest of Dean. 

William de Valence found it difficult to settle into English affairs, as he was unliked by many of the nobles. Although he was often seen as a foreigner, he remained loyal to his half-brother Henry III his entire life, and supported the King against Simon de Montfort.  He fought for the King at the battles of Lewes and Evesham, and at the siege of Kenilworth.  In 1270, he joined Prince Edward, the future King, on crusade to Acre.  He fought for Edward I against the Welsh in 1277, and supervised the construction of Edward’s castle at Aberystwyth.  In 1296 he was wounded in a skirmish, and was brought to his manor at Brabourne in Kent, where he died.  Goodrich Castle being the inheritance of his wife Joan, it reverted to her for the rest of her life. 

We know that Joan and William's household was often on the move, although Goodrich Castle seems to have been one of their favourite residences, having rebuilt most of it themselves. The household would move around 20 miles a day.  It must have been a lot of work and preparation, and the household accounts give us some idea of what this entailed. After William's death, the records tell us that between May 1296 and September 1297 – less than a year and a half – Joan stayed at 15 different residences. This meant that it wasn’t only Joan who kept travelling between her different estates – her whole household was on the move. The servants and officials belonged to the family, not the house, and so they went wherever the head of the household went. In all, Joan’s household varied in size between 122 and 196 people. As well as Countess Joan’s travelling household of up to 200 people and frequent guests, there was also a staff permanently based at Goodrich, under the command of the constable, who maintained the castle’s security. At the bottom of the hierarchy were 20 poor people, who depended on Joan’s charity.

The accounts have a break in entries for 13 days, from the 5th of May to the 18th of May 1296, as it was during this time that William, at the age of 66 years, was wounded while in France and transported by boat to Dover, and then to Brabourne where Joan met him.  The entry in the household account on the 18th of May states, ‘the body of the lord departed from Brabourne for London, where he will be interred in his tomb’. The margin states ‘the death of the Lord’ (William) and it goes on to tell us that the funeral meal consisted of herring, mackerel, whiting, flounder, and mullet, with pottage, as well as wine and beer.  When William de Valence died, he and Joan had been married for nearly 50 years.   Joan de Valences rolls tell us, that Joan did not attend William’s burial in London, this was overseen by their eldest son, Aymer.  However, within a week of her husband’s demise, Joan was on the move to Sutton, having stopped for the night in Charing.  William the baker was sent ahead, in order to ensure that Joan and her household had fresh bread upon her arrival. Joan also dispatched letters to her son Aymer in London. Aymer joined his mother at Sutton on the 30th of May.

After William’s death, their eldest son Aymer was granted possession of his inheritance, and Joan was assigned one third of her husband’s lands in dower. In general, lands that had been granted to William outright would pass directly to Aymer, while Joan would retain control for life over the lands which she had brought to the marriage.  Joan would also have had a claim on her husband’s lands in dower, but these she gave up willingly in favour of her son. Inheritance laws in the Middle Ages are complex, and at times properties had many heirs, and many more claims from potential heirs. The Marshall estate having been so vast, and being distributed solely thought the female line, was even more complex than usual.

An early form of banking at the time was certainly in place, although not exactly safe.  A letter survives, to Joan, from the Chamberlain of St. Albans, written in June and having to do with the whereabouts of William’s cash deposits.  The letter tells us that Joan’s two representatives who she had sent to him, namely Chaplain William de Saxtorp and his Knightly attendant James, had arrived and requested that William’s money, which he had previously deposited at the sub-Priory of Berkhamsted and entrusted to the monks, be surrendered to them.  They had carried Joan’s letter with her seal, however the Abbot of St. Albans refused to relinquish the funds until he had inspected the instructions on the original deposit, and because ‘all the trouble to us in unlocking the strongbox’. The letter also states that Joan’s seal had melted.  It is possible that the Abbot felt he could simply ignore the request of a widow.

The household accounts, maintained by Joan’s steward, are a remarkable survival and provide us a glimpse into the events and activities of a great medieval household. Joan de Valence’s household accounts are some of the earliest of their kind in existence. We know from the accounts that she stayed at Goodrich Castle for six months between November of 1296, while William was alive, until the summer of 1297, just after William’s death, when Joan was head of the household. Joan returned to Goodrich again in September of 1297, when the account ends. We know from the accounts that the majority of her money was spend on food and on correspondence. The accounts also mention servants and officials employed by Joan.  The characters of the great household, who so often go nameless, have names here.  A few of those traveling with Joan were the chapel clerk, Humphrey of the mistress’s chamber, John of the mistress’s wardrobe, the mistress’s laundress, Jacquetta of her daughter-in-law Beatrice’s chamber. Other than those in Joan’s personal household, who would travel with her, there existed at Goodrich a permanent staff commanded by the castle’s constable.  They would have been responsible for maintaining the security of the castle. 

Joan has left us a contribution to our knowledge of medieval women though survival of her private account rolls, which outline her households’ expenditures, travels and activities, from the last months of her husband’s life, though the first few months of her widowhood. Some of the most complete records from Joan’s household are those which represent her time at Goodrich, where she stayed for long periods.  There were frequent visitors to Goodrich while Joan was in residence, some of these included the Prioress of Aconbury Priory, the Countess of Gloucester, Joan of Acre and her son Earl Gilbert de Clare, as well as Joan’s fellow executor to her husband’s estate, Roger de Inkpenne.  Joan’s scriptorium would have been kept very busy, sometimes as many as a dozen letters would be sent daily. With so many estates to oversee, constant communication was necessary. The daily entries often identify ‘letters of my lady’, possibly indicating that she dictated the letters herself. The cost of correspondence was the most significant daily expense in Joan’s household.  The cost of candles, wax for sealing, parchment and travel expenses for couriers coming and going, comprise as much as half of the household’s regular expenses.

In 1297, Joan de Valence celebrated Candlemas at Goodrich amongst friends, and had with her for the Feast of the Purification, the Lady Bluet of Raglan, Lady Bicknor, Katherine de Geneville and the Prioress of Aconbury amongst many others, including members of the Clare family, and her cousin Earl Gilbert de Clare and his mother Countess Joan of Acre. The party continued at Goodrich for about a week, and spent their days out hunting in the local countryside.   Joan’s household rolls tell us a lot about the running of a large household, almost uniquely they also show us that Joan did make some changes after William died.  Joan was quite frugal in her management, but the number of paupers fed at her table nearly tripled after William’s death, from seven most weekdays, to twenty, and with more invited on special occasions and Sundays. She was also generous in her gratitude and provided alms, and tipped servants for delivery of goods or letters.

The accounts also tell us that the household at Goodrich Castle was able to accommodate a wider range of personnel than Joan’s smaller residences. Her nephew, King Edward I, had allowed Joan to procure wood from the Forest of Dean, and so were employed men in the preparation of fuel.  Joan also hired workmen at Goodrich and the surrounding villages, to repair carts, shoe horses and various household repairs.  She employed bakers locally, who would come to the castle to bake weekly.  Joan’s diet consisted primarily of seafood, as she did not eat much meat.  From Goodrich she was able to procure a large range of fish for her table, which came from Bristol, Gloucester, Chepstow and Monmouth.

On Easter Sunday 1297, Joan celebrated the end of the fasting period with a banquet at Goodrich Castle.  The household account shows that the kitchen produced enormous meals.  On this day it served 3 quarters of beef, and 1 ½ bacons, 1 ½ unsalted pigs, half a boar, half a salmon, (these were all from the castles store), half a carcass of beef costing 10 shillings, mutton at 15 pence, 9 kids at 3 shillings 8d, 17 capons and hens at 2 shillings 7d, 2 veal calves at 2 shillings 6d, 600 eggs (they were smaller then) at 2 shillings, pigeons at 2 pence, with 24 other pigeons from stores in Shrivenham, cheese at 4 pence and a halfpenny for transport by the boat, for a total cost of 22 shillings 6d and a halfpenny. This feast was prepared to entertain guests that would have included family, friends and eminent peers. After Easter, the household was preparing to move to London, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of William’s death. Joan was accompanied to London by a substantial retinue, which included members of her family.  The commemoration of Williams death is likely to have also been the unveiling of his tomb, as entries in the household rolls indicate that she paid for the structure to be erected in May 1297. 

Joan de Valence arrived at Goodrich Castle on the 18th of November 1296.  Her household accounts show that 10 shillings and 6 pence were paid for the procurement of 3 carts to transport the lady’s property.  6 pence was spent for a horse to carry the mistresses money by road, and 2 shillings and 5 pence was spent for 8 horses and 4 carters, loaned by the Abbot of Gloucester and the Abbot of Nutley, for transporting the mistress’s property by road.  As they were unable to get across the river Wye, a further 3 shillings and 6 pence was paid for a 4-horse cart from the Abbot of Nutley, which took 3 days to return from Goodrich Castle to Nutley, and a gift of 6 pence was given from the mistress to the carters.  16 pence was given to John the baker for 8 days traveling from Exning to Goodrich Castle, to bake bread there before the mistress’s arrival, and a further 16 pence was given to Isaac of the kitchen for travelling to Goodrich Castle to prepare the larder there. 

Other items of interest in the accounts mention 2 pence spent to buy 5 frames for the pavilion over the mistress’s bed, 4 pence for 2 lights for the chamber of the mistress and Beatrice, her daughter-in-law, for the week. 7 ½ pence for the expenses of the clerk Phillip, for travelling to Chepstow to buy salt fish and herring, 1 penny for a lock for the door of the building where the horses feed was kept, 6 pence for buying a storm lantern for the kitchen window, 4 pounds 5 shillings and 6 pence for 114 pounds of wax, bought at Monmouth by master Thomas the Chaplain at 9 pence per pound, 8 pence was spent for expenses for Hamo the coachman, travelling to Gloucester to bring a man to mend the mistress’s carriage, 8 pence for making 2 surplices for the mistresses’ chapel, 18 pence to the chaplain for making wax tapers for the chapel. A halfpenny for mending the door of the chapel where oats are kept.

Joan de Valences household, when her husband or son were not in attendance, was relatively austere.  He kept a moderate number of staff, and the daily tally of food and drink records a variety of pottages, small amounts of meat and larger amounts of fish and eels.  Only modest quantities of beer and wine seem to have been consumed.  When the men were home, the kitchen produced a great deal more meat than when she and her daughter-in-law Beatrice were the primary residents.  Even with all the lands she possessed, she chose to limit her personal extravagances.  It may also have been her religious beliefs that influenced her actions, as she chose to feed between 10 and 20 paupers daily, so it wasn’t necessarily financial concerns that curbed her behaviours.

In researching Joan’s life, I was struck by the constant disputes over properties, which demonstrate the importance of landholdings to all parties involved, including women, as well as the significance of written documents to support or undermine claims.  I was also surprised by how many of her holdings she held with others.  Another running theme throughout Joan’s life, and that of other medieval nobles, is the importance of family and connectedness to other dynasties. Joan and William’s proximity to the royal house was both an advantage and disadvantage.  The main disadvantage being that being so closely related to the King, also made them the enemy of other nobles who felt that had been bypassed. 

Upon the death of Joan de Valence in 1307, by which time she was well into her seventies, Goodrich Castle was inherited by her son Aymer de Valence.  Aymer went on to play an important role in English politics, and was a supporter of both Edward I and Edward II.  He also recived the Earldom of Pembroke in 1307, and was involved in the marriage negotiations of Edward II and Princess Isabella of France. He was also with Edward II at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. In 1317 however, while returning from a visit to the Pope in Avignon, he was captured and imprisoned by a French nobleman who ransomed him for the enormous sum of £10,400 - the repayments of which ruined him financially. He died without an heir and Goodrich Castle passed to his niece, Elizabeth Comyn, who was a ward of the Crown.

The Despenser’s pressured Elizabeth Comyn to surrender various possessions to them, they went so far as to kidnap her and hold her prisoner.  In March 1325, Elizabeth finally agreed to release Goodrich Castle to the younger Despenser. Shortly afterwards, she was married to Richard Talbot who, in 1326, seized the castle in her name. Goodrich Castle remained in the Talbot family until 1619.