Penllyn Castle

Penllyn Castle in Penllyn, Cowbridge, United Kingdom was established by Norman builders.

The fortress originated in the early twelfth century when Robert Fitzhamon established a stronghold on a high site overlooking the River Thaw and the Ewenny River valleys. The castle’s early history records an attack attributed to Owain Glyndŵr during his rebellion. In the Tudor period the Turbeville family took over the site and erected a manor within the remaining castle precincts, incorporating the old keep as one corner of their house.

Around the late eighteenth century a Miss Gwinnett replaced the Turbeville house with a new manor constructed between about 1780 and 1790, while the earlier dwelling was adapted to serve as a stable block and fell into a derelict state. John Homfray bought the estate in 1846 and, between 1846 and 1860, carried out a wide rebuilding campaign. He remodelled buildings to echo earlier Tudor work, had most of Miss Gwinnett’s house taken down and reconstructed the principal residence in a mid-Victorian manner with stucco-plaster walls, and added a new entrance lodge. The entrance lodge and later manor house received formal heritage listings as part of the estate group.

The property changed hands in the twentieth century and was sold in 1961 to the Cory family to meet death duty obligations. In 2005 the partly derelict stable block and manor house served as the main filming location for a television production. In October 2018 Terence and Judith Edgell purchased the estate with the stated aim of restoring it for family use.