Alberbury Castle

About

Alberbury Castle is in the village of Alberbury – some nine miles west of Shrewsbury, Shropshire and very close to the border with Wales. The building has been constructed from locally available red sandstone. It is a Grade II listed building.

Its origins are uncertain but it was probably built in the 13th century by Fulk FitzWarin during the reign of Richard I. According to Sir William Dugdale, the castle of Alberbury was given to Guarine de Metz, the ancestor of FitzWarin family, by William the Conqueror. However, this account is disputed by the Domesday Book of 1086.

The main purpose of its construction appears to have been as a barrier to stop the Welsh onslaught and to retain control of the passes along the River Severn. According to sources, the castle was razed by Llewellyn the Great in 1223, only to be rebuilt three years later in 1226, this time with a stone wall surrounding the bailey. A few years later, the Sheriff of Shropshire, Thomas Corbet of Caus, took advantage of a hasty utterance of Fulk FitzWarin, and had him ejected from the castle and took over his lands citing FitzWarin's words as a renunciation of fealty.

However, Fitzwarin was able to retake his lands and his...