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With the death of Sir John Perrot’s son, the Crown continued to lease Carew to many tenants, including the Earl of Essex. The Carew family had other ideas. They were lobbying hard for the return of their family home and legacy.
In 1611 it was determined that the castle was in desperate circumstances and in dire need of repair. The cost was enormous and the prospects daunting. The window glass, which had lain unused since Sir John Perrot occupancy, was finally put in place. Sir John Carew passed away in 1637. He death preceded a period where Carew would face it worst times. The English Civil War erupted in Wales and Carew would suffer greatly during the conflict at the hand of the King’s troops. In 1642, Carew was captured by Lord Carbery and was converted into a Royalist outpost, guarded by 50 men. In 1644 the Parliamentarian Colonel Laugharne took it. The following year it fell back to the Royalists when Colonel Laugharne was forced back to Pembroke. Carew sea-sawed between the forces until the war ended, and Carew was left devastated by the effects of the war. Walls were pierced from shelling and windows were blocked with rubble to protect the combatants in the castle from the forces below. Excavations of the site have yielded home made musket balls, used to try and protect the castle. The Parliamentarians, to ensure the castle could not be occupied in the near future, destroyed the South Range of the castle. After the war the castle was returned to the family, who occupied the East Range until 1686. They then moved to Somerset and the castle once again fell into disuse. Editor Note: In my research for this series of articles I have used the following printed resourses: Carew Castle Souvenir Guide, published by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Go To Page: 1 |
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