A Dead Man's secret

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William fitz Baldwin was pleased with the little castle he had built. It guarded a ford in the River Tywi, and he felt it was as secure a fortress as any he had seen. It comprised a sturdy motte topped by a wooden tower, and there was a palisade of sharpened stakes that protected a sizeable bailey. He intended to begin work on a proper bailey later in the year, reinforcing the fence with earthen ditches and a moat. And perhaps, in time, he would add a stone curtain wall. That should please the King, who, some three years earlier, had ordered him to establish a military base in this restless part of his domain.

He climbed to the top of the tower and stood on the battlements, resting his elbows on the rough wood and inhaling deeply of the fresh, salt-tinged air. Behind him were the densely forested hills of the Tywi Valley, and in front were the marshes, a lonely, peaceful swath of mud and grass, dappled with sheep. He had called his castle Rhydygors, after the Welsh words for ‘marsh’ and ‘ford’. To his right, just visible on a slight promontory, was the little town of Kermerdyn.

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