Chepstow Castle - Marten's Tower

The Tower
   As you walk up towards the entrance to Chepstow Castle, you will see to your left this imposing tower. It used to be called Bigod's Tower since it was built by Roger Bigod III in the late 13th century to a D plan, projecting from the SE curtain wall and taking advantage of its naturally raised position.The original purpose was to provide a second, four-storeyed splendid residence that could be sealed off and defended. When Archdeacon William Coxe visited it in 1798 he was surprised to find "a comfortable suite of rooms" with lodgings for domestics.
   These had been occupied by Henry Marten (1602 - 9th September 1680) who gave his name to the tower. He was imprisoned here, after a stormy and tumultuous life, for about 12 years from 7th December 1668 onwards as a regicide,  being one of the most prominent of the 31 out of 59 Commissioners who signed the death warrant of Charles I in 1649. Marten had always been a staunch republican whose extreme opinions frightened even his supporters. Coxe reports that he took out from a great iron chest at Westminster the crown, robes, sword and sceptre of Edward the Confessor (a king and a saint) and "with a scorn, greater than his lusts and the rest of his vices, he openly declared that there should be no further use of these toyes and trifles" - sacrilege indeed!

His public life
   He was educated at Oxford and entered the Inns of Court: touring Europe in the 1620's he enjoyed the high living there but also encountered the thinking of French stoical philosophers. In his two periods as an MP he made an impression because of his severe republican outlook and was, in fact, expelled and imprisoned in the Tower of London for expressing his view that the royal family should be extirpated and the system of monarchy ended. When Ann Stagg of Southwark presented a women's petition in 1642 calling for political reform, he supported her. He was an enthusiastic committee man, serving on at least 46, but, since reading about committees is even more tedious than attending them, we will pass on to the exciting bits.
   At first he did not take an active soldierly part in the Civil War (he and Cromwell did not get on) but later raised a private regiment to defend his own area and his principles, occasionally stealing horses but attracting followers because of his charismatic personality and radical ideas. He was a sophisticated man of the world, having been a spymaster for Parliament: one receipt shows that he was paid £500 for information and he designed the emblem and mottoes of the Commonwealth regime. In June 1660, he surrendered himself to the authorities as a regicide but behaved so courageously at his trial that he was spared the death penalty. He was at first imprisoned in Windsor Castle until Charles II ordered him to be moved further away to Chepstow because his proximity worried the king.

Picture in National Portrait Gallery, London

His character
  Henry Marten is one of those fascinating personalities who seems to have at least two sides to his character: the serious radical thinker and the reckless libertine. Throughout his life he expressed republican views, tended towards atheism and wanted representative government. He was much maligned for his loose conduct although some of the accusations have no foundation.
   Married twice, the second time to Margaret Staunton, with 8 children in all, he had a long love affair with Mary Ward lasting 30 to 40 years. They lived together as man and wife: she ran the household when he was away and was allowed to visit him in prison. There is little evidence of other affairs although he was accused of being a whoremaster by Charles I: John  Aubrey wrote that he was a "great lover of pretty girls to whom he was so liberal that he spent the greatest part of his estate on them." Certainly he squandered a huge inheritance and passed some time in prison for debt. It cost money, also, to maintain a regiment. Later, too late, he observed that it was important to be "snugge like a snail within our selves, that is our mindes, which nobody can touch," having clothes and house safe.
  Some of that wealth went on clothes since he had a tendency to dandyism: in the portrait above by Sir Peter Lely, his dark cloak is embellished with fur trim and a jet pin and on 2nd December 1649 he paid Christopher Smith £17 8s 5d for a fancy cloak, a suit with taffeta inside and hose lined with calico. His rich diet included: dressed veal, goose, tongue, roast beef, capon, pork, mutton, mince pies and cheese washed down by, on average, 20 pints of beer a day to say nothing of wine and the dark rum supplied by his younger brother.
  He was not a handsome man but he spoke well, had a knack with one-liners and could turn the House with one short but well-crafted contribution. John Lilburne spoke of his "sincerity, uprightness, boldness and gallantry". Certainly he kept Mary Ward loyal to him: there a touching evidence that she liked to think of herself as his wife as she doodled both variations of her name. It was the fact that he flaunted his relationship with her so openly that caused trouble.

The end

   This is the view from inside the castle grounds of Marten's Tower where his apartments were. He was not badly treated and could even go outside. Yet it was a pitiful end of a talented man, though one must remember the background: the execution of the king on January 30, 1649, a freezing day on which Charles I wore 2 heavy shirts so as not to be thought to shiver with fear and at which a terrible groan arose from the huge crowd at the actual beheading, drowning the shouts of the soldiers.
   Marten choked on his supper on 9th Sept., 1680 and died: he had composed an epitaph for himself in the form of an acrostic in which the first letters of each line form his name, showing his wit and way with words. The last two lines read, ironically:

E xamples preach to th' eye, care then (mine says),
N ot how you end but how you spent your dayes.

   He was buried beneath the floor at an entryway of the Priory and Parish Church of St. Mary.

Your visit
   I have written earlier about the castle itself and the pleasant area round the river. It is well worth walking part way across the 200-year-old bridge to see the mighty cliffs on which this fortification rests. Chepstow is served by several buses from the top of town and there is an excellent information centre in the car park by the castle where you can also find the toilets; "Go before you go" is my motto. You can travel a little further north to visit Tintern Abbey or continue on this 69 bus to Monmouth where Henry V was born in the castle and Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote about King Arthur. Other possibilities are the the no 74 to take you to Caldicot Castle, the 75 to Caerwent Roman town and the 63 to Usk with its castle and the battle site of Pwll Melin as well as being the birthplace of Alfred Russel Wallace, evolutionary thinker.
   For opening times for the castle click here.

Raglan Castle

A Toff's Castle
   Raglan Castle is stunningly imposing but less as a belligerent military fortress than as a nobleman's vast home.  It is a fortified palace in the French style with its hexagonal towers. Built by a father-and-son team, it showed off their wealth and position and saw less warfare than a smaller one such as that in Usk. Because of the relatively late dates of construction, the period was comparatively peaceful. Henry Tudor, future King Henry VII, spent some of his childhood here.

Construction - military
   Building was begun in the 15th century by Sir William ap Thomas (knighted by Henry VI) and the castle marks a transitional stage between a military fortification and a palatial residence in keeping with the growing riches and power of the family. There was the 6-sided, 5-storey Twr Melyn Gwent (yellow tower of Gwent, probably so called because of the yellow lichen growing on it) with 10 foot thick walls and surrounded by a deep water-filled moat, which could be held if the rest of the site were taken in battle. The high quality carved masonry spoke of the family's affluence. There were circular gun loops in the Kitchen Tower; the battlements and Closet Tower have machicolations from which from which the enemy could be attacked from above.

Construction - domestic and other additions
  Sir William's son, William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, built the superb gatehouse block and added the residential apartments of the Fountain Court.
   William Somerset contrived the showy second-floor long gallery which would have been heated and hung with panelling, portraits and tapestries and was ideal for the sumptuous social activities of the upper classes. The Fountain Court, which once had a fountain at the centre, the base of which can still be seen, contained a range of pleasing apartments, probably for visitors. These had fireplaces and handsome windows as glass was becoming cheaper and larger sheets were available in the 16th century, a fact that William Somerset welcomed to let in light to his probably gloomy home. The family had private accommodation, the high status of which was indicated by superbly carved masonry including heraldic badges round the windows.
   Later a moat walk was created with busts of Roman Emperors in niches decorated with shells, as was the fashion of the period, and elaborate gardens were laid out with ponds, orchards and deer. The bowling green is still there to be appreciated.

  

The Civil War

   Although the Wars of the Roses had been rumbling on, the main threat to Raglan Castle came with the Civil War. The Marquis of Worcester, Henry Somerset, (grandson of William Somerset), a Catholic aristocrat, with an income then of over £24,000 p.a., was one of the richest men in the kingdom and had a household of 500. He had poured nearly a million pounds into the coffers of King Charles' war effort and now bailed him out yet again and allowed him to stay there for 3 weeks. He was therefore a prime target and made preparations for defence: the Roundheads pounded the castle relentlessly under the charge of Colonel Thomas Morgan with 1500 troops. The Marquis was hit at dinner by a musket ball but passed the incident off with a quip about his head-piece although some of the women fainted. 

   Sir Thomas Fairfax, arriving on 7th August 1646 to lead the assault, brought up Roaring Meg, a kind of super-cannon intended to lob missiles over the walls, along with others, but they were never used. Finally, letters were exchanged and a bloodless outcome reached by its surrender on 19th August 1646, after - in total - a 10 week seige, the Marquis pleading for the safety of 2 young pigeons as he left. 

   Instructions were given for the castle to be completely destroyed but this did not happen. Men with pickaxes removed the top storey of the 5 of the Great Tower. Later it was decided to "slight" the castle, render it incapable of military use: this was done to parts by undermining (inserting wood and then firing it). All traces of aristocratic life were systematically smashed or ripped out. Even the fine books in the library were wrecked and the fish killed by breaking the walls of their enclosures.

Your visit

   I have skated the surface of this castle's fascinating history and shall return to its various aspects later, in particular to the character of the Marquis of Worcester who glows from the past in rich colour. You can spend hours here lolling on the grass enjoying the superb views as well as looking for traces of the past on the walls of the courtyards such as heraldic shields, intricate stonework edging and gargoyles. There were stonemasons' marks indicating how much work each man had done. There is a small but well-stocked shop with upmarket wall hangings (and toilets - you are a little way from the village.)

Chimneypiece in long gallery, late 16th century

   The walk from the bus stop in Raglan village takes about 15 minutes heading off behind the Beaufort and is quite pleasant apart from crossing the busy dual carriageway of the A449. Raglan is served by 2 buses, the 60 which can take you to Monmouth with its connections to Henry V since it was in the castle there that he was born. and the 83 from Monmouth to Abergavenny where a brutal massacre took place one Christmas in its castle.
 
   Or you could go in the other direction on the number 60 to Usk with its castle and the nearby battle of Pwll Melyn against Owain Glyndwr's forces or further onwards to Caerleon with its Roman remains.
 
  Opening times for Raglan Castle
 
  On the bus, on your way home, you will find your mind reliving all these images.

By the River Wye at Chepstow

An attraction for all
   The name Chepstow derives from the Old English "chepe stowe" meaning a place of trade or market centre. After the Norman Conquest the town became a key location as the Normans could cross at the low bridging point and extend themselves into Wales. In the late eighteenth century a growing fashionable interest in the picturesque attracted visitors and painters who took boats from Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth. They admired nearby Tintern Abbey, Piercefield House and the ruins of Chepstow Castle in their yearning for romantic beauty.

Relax by the river
   Nowadays it is worth taking time to pause by the river and walk over the Wye via the 1816 cast iron bridge into England (I told you we'd be going abroad on our microadventures!) Before that there was a ferry called by the Romans Tratica Augustus; a later one was used by Charles I when fleeing a troop of Cromwell's men. On the Welsh side there is also a pretty bandstand used for concerts in the summer, the best Information Centre I have ever been into and the Museum. There are magnificent limestone cliffs and the river here has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world, dropping by almost 15 metres between high and low tide. There are some lovely walks from here.

Walking down through the town
   Before you leave you will probably want to visit the castle. Chepstow is served by several buses including the 65 and 69 (the 69 takes you to Tintern Abbey) to Monmouth and the 63 to Usk with its castle,several from Newport as well as local ones and some from England. The bus station is at the top of town (near an M&S Food Hall): you then pass under the Town Gate, rebuilt in 1524 from its late 13 century origins and renovated since, down one of the attractive streets until you reach the river.