The Welsh Marches

The Welsh Marches

From In Our Time With Melvyn Bragg by BBC

June 25, 2026 · 56 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of the Norman invasion on Wales and the formation of the Welsh Marches.

At the Hay Festival, Misha Glenny and guests discuss the impact of the Norman invasion on the people and land of Wales and across the modern border with England in what became known as The Welsh Marches, march being a term for a militarized borderland. Hay was one of the first Marcher lordships. Even before 1066, William the Conqueror knew that he would have to subdue the Welsh if he were to control the English and he allowed more and more Norman warlords to establish virtually their own private kingdoms in these Marches. Later some of the Lords were to use these bases to invade Ireland rather than conquer the rest of Wales. Marcher Lords built numerous castles such as the one at Hay and many new towns would then grow up alongside these where there was one law for the English and another for the Welsh and, though the Acts of Union under the Tudors brought an end to much of the Marcher Lords' powers, the distinct identity of these Welsh Marches continued. With Rhun Emlyn Lecturer in the Department of History and Welsh History at Aberystwyth University Helen Fulton Professor of Medieval Literature at the University of Bristol And Huw Pryce Emeritus Professor of Welsh History at…

People in this episode

Host: Melvyn Bragg

Guests: Misha Glenny, Rhun Emlyn, Helen Fulton, Huw Pryce

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Aberystwyth University, University of Bristol, Bangor University

Books & works: The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063-1415, Lordship and Society in the March of Wales 1282-1400, The Welsh Marcher Lordships II: South-West

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