GOODRICH
Not strictly in the Forest of Dean but close enough
to count (especially with tourists, and historically,
invaders!) Goodrich is a small village that grew up
next to Goodrich Castle, a fine 'Marcher Castle' which
stands on a high spur of land commanding strategic position
above a ford, an important ancient crossing point of
the Wye. The castle was begun c1101 and from1326 onwards
was the family seat of the Earls of Shrewsbury, although
by the 16th century it had passed into the hands of
the Earls of Kent and was no longer inhabited on a permanent
basis.
In 1642, at the start of the civil war, Goodrich was
seized by the Earl of Stamford for Parliament, but the
surrounding countryside was against him and he withdrew.
A Royalist force under Colonel So Henry Lingen occupied
the castle and held it for four years, but after Hereford
fell to Parliament in 1644, the garrison of Goodrich
became rather isolated and in May 1646 Colonel John
Birch, the Parliamentary commander of Hereford was given
orders to advance on the castle and secure it. The castle
walls however were unaffected by the Parliamentary cannon
so Birch ordered that the castle's water supply be cut
off and a siege mortar made to help in the attack. This
weapon, which was capable of firing a 200lb /90kg explosive
shell, was cast locally (ether at nearby Whitchuch or
Lydbrook) and earned the nickname 'Roaring Meg' (it
still survives today in the grounds of the Churchill
Gardens Museum at Hereford). In mid June the weapon
arrived and after being moved into a position, its first
few rounds soon breached the South wall. By this time,
conditions inside were desperate and when news reached
the castle that the king had been captured, the defenders
finally surrendered. After the Civil War, the castle
was left uninhabitable and it remained in ruins unitil1920,
when the last private owner placed it into the care
of the Commissioners of the Works (now English Heritage),
who carried out a preservation programme.
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