Hay Castle Mansion: A Social History 1122 - 2022

There has been a building on the bluff in the middle of Hay on Wye for 900 years. This is the story of the people associated with it - owners, residents and visitors. In the early days it was a fortified castle attacked by King John and Llewellyn the Great, and occupied briefly by Simon de Montfort. After the union of England and Wales in 1542 domestic buildings replaced the military structures. First the Boyle Mansion built by the sheriff of Hereford and then the imposing Jacobean mansion built by the Gwynne family. This formed the main structure for a procession of occupiers, amongst whom were the successful mercers the Wellingtons, Archdeacon Bevan who used it as a vicarage for 56 years, the Dower House of Lady Glanusk and finally the home of the King of Hay Richard Booth. This is their story.