Painscastle Castle

Maud de Braose held the rebuilt castle against Welsh attackers in 1196, but the bigger danger was king John himself, who seized William de Braose’s lands after their marriage collapsed into open war. Painscastle changed hands so often that loyalty became a local sport: Welsh rulers, Marcher lords, Tosny, Beauchamp and crown armies all took their turn on the same rectangular ground. The stone work is mostly gone now, leaving massive earthworks beside the village, but the shape still reads like a border argument made visible.