Pembroke Castle Revealing A Secret Of Henry VII’s Birthplace

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Historic Pembroke Castle birthplace of King Henry VII, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK ( Marcin / Adobe Stock)

Pembroke Castle Revealing A Secret Of Henry VII’s Birthplace

Situated on a high ridge between two tidal inlets in the south-west corner of Wales, Pembroke Castle, with its walls still standing sentinel after hundreds of years, dominates the landscape. These walls stand as silent witnesses to a narrative of pre-historic occupation as well as centuries of tumultuous history; to the power of William Marshall, ‘England’s Greatest Knight’; and to the birth of the most infamous of all English royal dynasties, the Tudors. Pembroke Castle is best known today as the birthplace of Henry Tudor, later King Henry VII, but recent archaeological excavations may reveal Henry VII was not born in one of the towers at all!

The impressive walls of Pembroke Castle in Wales (Geoff Pickering/ Adobe Stock)

The impressive walls of Pembroke Castle in Wales (Geoff Pickering/ Adobe Stock)

Wogan’s Cave At Pembroke

The castle stands on a site that has been occupied since prehistoric times, with a large cave known as Wogan’s cavern hidden beneath the castle. The name Wogan is derived from the Welsh word ogof, which literally means ‘cave’. The cave, formed of natural limestone, is an enormous 25 meters (82 feet) long. In 1908 the nearby Priory Farm Cave was excavated by Dr Durrell Style and Mr Dixon, which conclusively proved that there was Palaeolithic occupation in the area. Their finds included flint tools and worked bone, on display at the National Museum of Wales.


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