Coity Castle is a Norman castle in the community of Coity Higher near the town of Bridgend, in the County Borough of Bridgend in Wales. Very close to the castle is the battlemented parish church of St Mary the Virgin, dating from the 14th century.
A strong fortress in its heyday, the castle began as a late 11th century ringwork. A rectangular stone keep and the main curtain wall were added by the Normans in the 12th century, under the de Turberville family. Information posted by Cadw at the castle says that initially the three-storey keep was primarily a defensive structure.
reworking took place in the 14th century, when a domestic range was attached to the keep by the middle gatehouse. New stone vaults replaced the earlier timber floors. The central octagonal pier for the vaults is still prominent among the castle ruins. An adjoining chapel wing with a tall east window was added to the first floor at the eastern end of the domestic range in the 15th century.
In the 16th century Coity Castle was owned by the Gamage family, and during this time the castle saw a complete remodelling of the living quarters, including the addition of a storey, new windows and two chimney stacks. According to Cadw signage at the castle,The principal chambers lay on the upper floors. The range of domestic apartments comprises a central first-floor hall set above a vaulted undercroft; this was reached by the grand spiral stair along this vaulted passageway ... To the west were ground-floor service rooms, probably including a kitchen, with ovens and the base of a large malting kiln remaining. On the far side of the range, a tower projecting out from the curtain wall contained generous latrine provision. The second floor housed private apartments.
de Turberville family held the lordship of Coety from c. 1092 to 1360, when Richard de Turberville died, leaving his sister, Catherine as heir. Catherine married Sir Roger Berkerolles of East Orchard, St. Athan. Coity Castle resisted an attack by the forces of Owain_Glyndŵr and a long siege following the attack lasting into 1405. King Henry IV of England was asked by Parliament to send a relief force and he dispatched three Bristol sea captains to resupply the besieged garrison. The Berkerolles' claim to Coiety ended on October 18, 1411, when Sir Lawrence Berkerolles was killed defending the castle. At that time the lordship reverted to the de Turbervilles family through Sarah, the youngest sister of Richard de Turbervilles. Sarah's marriage to Sir William Gamage of Roggiett, Gwent brought the estate into the Gamage family, which would hold it until 1584.
At that time, Barbara Gamage inherited the Coity estate after the death of her father, John Gamage. Barbara would later marry Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester. Barbara died at Coity in 1621. The estate was held by the Sidneys until the 18th century, when it was purchased by the Edwins of Llanfihangel. Through the Edwins, the Coety lordship passed to the Earls of Dunraven.
The castle was abandoned around the 17th century and the castle ruins are now in the care of Cadw.
