Edward I inherited a site with a long frontier history. An earlier motte-and-bailey had two baileys and another boundary wall. Norman, Marcher, and Welsh lords fought over it, intermarried, and based some claims on inheritance through marriage. The castle changed hands and was modified several times before Llywelyn ap Gruffudd took and destroyed it in 1260, during Henry III's reign. Builth's history shows the Welsh Marches as a region of overlapping lordship and family claims rather than a clean political boundary.
Chapter · 1:58-3:10
Marcher and Welsh claims before Edward I
The older motte-and-bailey passed among Norman, Marcher, and Welsh claimants before Llywelyn ap Gruffudd destroyed it in 1260.