Hawarden Wood

The Battle of Hawarden Wood, 1157 (Part One) In August 1157, three months after the defeat of his navy on Mon, Henry II set out to bring North Wales back under royal control. In 1093 the English crown had controlled all of Mon and Gwynedd, but now its authority stopped at Ewloe Castle, just seven miles from Chester.

On 17 July Henry held a great council at Northampton, where he summoned his Welsh vassals. These included Cadwaladr, Owain Gwynedd’s brother, who was living in Shropshire on a royal pension of £7 per annum. Another was King Madog ap Maredudd of Powys who received £8 10 shillings from the king in this year. In 1150 Madog had been defeated by Owain at Coleshill, and he hoped to recover the western part of the Perfeddwlad. Madog was accompanied by his brother Iorwerth, also on royal wages and captain of the Powysian penteulu (bodyguard). Madog brought his under-king, King Hywel ap Ieuaf of Arwystli. Therefore this was not a straight Anglo-Welsh conflict, but a battle between Owain Gwynedd and the Crown, the latter supported by Welsh kings, princes and nobles as well as his English subjects.

There were also a number of Scots in the royal army. The Chronicle of Melrose reports that Malcolm IV of Scotland came to Henry at Chester and ‘became his man’:

‘King Malcolm of Scotland came to King Henry at Chester where he became his man in the same manner as his grandfather had to the old king Henry, saving all his dignities.’

Henry’s enemy, Owain Gwynedd, raised an army with his sons Hywel, Cynan and Dafydd. They built a ‘great entrenchment’ at Basingwerk, and most of the accounts lay great emphasis on the huge ditches constructed by the Venedotians. The site can probably be identified with the ancient motte at Coleshill Castle, near Holywell and Basingwerk Abbey, where the ravine has been visibly steepened to make a fortified site. The ditches around the castle to the west and south are formidable obstacles, being between 50-60 feet deep. To the west are the main artificial defences, consisting of a ditch 15 feet deep and 35 across, protecting the inner ward.