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Arnulf Montgomery marched into South Pembrokeshire with
his Norman army late in the
11th Century. Impressed by the fertility of the land,
he quickly grasped the strategic importance of Pembroke
in any plan to dominate the region the region, and that
town became his riverside headquarters. It could be re-victualled
from the sea in times of siege, and formed a powerful
defensive position against the de-possessed and resentful
Welsh.
Soon the small Welsh fortress at Tenby was captured, probably by
peaceful penetration. For the next few centuries Tenby's safety
and prosperity were firmly linked with that of the Earls of Pembroke.
By the middle of the 12th century some form of primitive castle
had been built on the Castle Hill and garrisoned by English and
French troops. Built by Gerald de Windsor, or a little later by
Gilbert de Clare - first Earl of Pembroke(1138-1148), it was designed
to protect the Norman's eastern flank from attack by Welsh chieftans.
Along with tyhe network of castles and other defensive structures
theNormans built, it was hoped that the Tenby fortifications would
provide a period of stability to enable them to establish their
manorial system. It would allow them to settle French, English and
Flemish immigrants whom they imported in numbers
In 1151 members of the Tenby garrison wounded Cadell ap Grufydd,
a Welsh nobleman, hunting in the woods near Saundersfoot. Two years
later, in 1153, his brothers Maredudd and Rhys carried out a daring
night time revenge assault and captured the town. Having punished
the men responsible for the injuries to their brother, they handed
the castle back to their cousin, William Fitzgerald, who was acting
constable for the Earl of Pembroke. In 1187the town was attacked
and ransacked by the marauding welsh, under Maelgwyn ap Rhys. In
1260 it suffered its last battering at Welsh hands when Llewelyn
ap Gruffydd put the town to the sword in protest against the Norman
occupation of Wales.
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