Llangybi Castle: huge and ruinous

Photo courtesy of Joan Bennet

   Llangybi Castle had the largest inner courtyard of any castle in England and Wales - and possibly in Europe - measuring 150 by 80 metres (500 by 250 feet in old money.) At present it is a ruin and there are no plans to maintain it. It is privately owned and, although it lurks quite near a public footpath, it is essential to ask the proprietor's permission to visit.
   I was lucky enough to be taken on a guided tour by the forester of the estate, Les Taylor, who was a cornucopia of fascinating information, not only about the castle, but also about the trees we walked past. He explained that it was never a true fortification but more of a glorified hunting lodge.
   We started at the house and appealing stable block, the latter built in the French style and containing dove cotes. Nearby had been a motte and bailey and a fish pond. The present castle, built by the powerful de Clare family, possibly started by Bogo de Clare (at last a different forename!), was mentioned by the Bishop of Hereford in 1262. It was probably still incomplete when Gilbert de Clare V was killed at Bannockburn in 1314. Les handed out a sketch, an artist's impression of the original building, showing round crenellated towers, buildings within the vast courtyard, curtain walls and a drawbridge with genuine Medieval people crossing. The drawing is copyright and I am no Picasso and so you will have to use your imagination.

 During the tour we were invited to enter the garderobe chamber where a four-seater loo would have been flushed by water from sluice holes in the roof. Certain intrepid members of the group marched in and our leader was relieved when the head count was satisfactory afterwards. Les also pointed out putlog holes in the north wall and told us that they were where logs were put (get it?) for scaffolding. The wood was sawn off and the chunk remaining in the wall eventually rotted and left the holes. This solved endless arguments I have had about the purpose of these characteristic square gaps - not, it seems, for hiding your sweetmeats in.
   The family lived in the monumental twin-towered gatehouse and kept their important documents in a room with a highly decorated arch.

Photo courtesy of Joan Bennet

The castle, sometimes called Tregrug, was, like so many others, slighted by the Roundheads in 1648 during the Civil War, after having been fortified for defensive purposes. We were then taken around the surrounding woodlands where we learned about the capacity of redwoods to withstand fire and saw a hazel nut shell hollowed out by a dormouse which had left its characteristic serrated marks at the edge. Les is an enthusiastic proponent of managing woods to maintain the health and longevity of the trees.

Photo courtesy of Reg Darge

The old castle was the subject of an investigation by the Channel 4 Time Team in 2020. They concluded that the ditches surrounding the walls were Civil War defences and that the castle had been extensively remodelled in the 17th century to provide a new main entrance and to landscape the area inside the walls as a "pleasaunce" containing gardens and fountains.

Llangybi is on the bus route of the no 60 but, without the owner's permission, nothing is visible from the footpath. I have written about the lovely little eponymous village in another blog post. You are not far on the bus from Raglan Castle, also more of a residence than a fortification and also slighted in the Civil War. If you do visit Llangybi you will have to take your own CAKE or press on to the cafe near Raglan Castle.

Richard Strongbow de Clare - and family

Chepstow Castle (Striguil)

   The de Clare family was rich, powerful and extremely prominent in the Welsh Marches of Medieval times and one of the most interesting of them was Richard Strongbow. Confusingly (and I sometimes feel it was done deliberately in order to muddle me!) they called alternate eldest sons Richard or Gilbert.
   The Richard who interests us at this moment was nicknamed Strongbow - but so was his father! Despite the tendency at this period to accord a cognomen that commented on some physical peculiarity (Rufus, Wryneck or Curthose - short arse  - springs to mind) neither of these men seems to have had oddly shaped legs.
The nickname was probably a mistranscription in a Latin entry in the Domesday Exchequer annals of the early 14th century which appended the word "Stranghose" to his given name. The chronicler thought this meant "foreign leggings" but it probably referred to Striguil (Chepstow) which could also be spelled Strangboge, Stranboue or Stranbohe. Clear? No, neither am I, but this nickname stuck from then on.

  He was born in 1130 in Tonbridge, Kent, and died on 20th April 1176, aged 45/6, in Dublin, having been master of Chepstow, planner of Usk town and Governor of Ireland. Gilbert I (they are often given Roman numerals because of the problem we have noted) and his brother Roger had been part of the hunting party when William Rufus was killed - or murdered - and were brothers-in-law of the man who did the shooting, Walter Tirel. Whether or not they were part of a plot, they were rewarded by Henry I (who claimed the throne in indecent haste) with extensive grants of lands throughout England and Wales. Male members of the family made judicious marriages until they were amongst the most powerful magnates of the kingdom.
   Our Richard succeeded to the lordship of Striguil, aged only 18, and supported King Stephen against Matilda for the last 5 years of his reign. The next Henry, Matilda's son, his new liege-lord, regarded him with suspicion and failed to confirm him in the important title of Earl of Pembroke. At that time, he was, as Orpen said "a man who, having been brought up to greatness, had fallen on evil days and who therefore was all the more ready to endeavour to repair his fortunes by a bold adventure in another country." This was the Norman occupation of Ireland.

 
  In August 1166, Dermot Mac Murrough, King of Leinster, was banished and later landed in Bristol with his followers to seek support from Henry II to recover his position.The King, who had designs on Ireland, gave him letters patent but Richard Strongbow was alone in offering military support - in return for promises to marry Dermot's daughter, Eva, and inherit Leinster after his death. (I will not trouble our heads with the variant spellings of all these names!) However, he did not go immediately and then Henry forbade the mission. Yet, since Strongbow was on the point of departure, he set off despite this prohibition and Henry seized Striguil. Richard landed in Waterford with 200 knights and 1000 light troops, some recruited in Gwent. They took Waterford and Dublin but Henry saw his own ambitions threatened by this success and did a deal with Richard who ceded some gains but kept Leinster. By August 1173, Henry trusted him enough to make him Governor of Ireland. At about this time the stone keep of Usk castle was built and the charter for its Priory was granted.

Usk Castle

   In 1189 his daughter, Isabella, married one of the most powerful and renowned men of the age, William, Earl Marshall of England, who strengthened both Striguil and Usk castles adding to the latter the dominating curtain walls. Strongbow's tomb is not local to Gwent despite such claims. He was described by Geraldus Cambrensis: "His complexion was somewhat ruddy and his skin freckled; he had grey eyes, feminine features, a weak voice and short neck. For the rest, he was tall in stature and a man of great generosity and of a courteous nature."
    He was also an ancestor of the American Bush political family.

To read more about his influence in Monmouthshire you can click on Chepstow Castle, Usk Castle or the planting of Usk Town. There is also a post about the illustrious William Marshal.

Cardiff Castle: central and fascinating

First impressions
   As you enter Cardiff Castle you will be struck by a huge 40 feet high Norman motte (the largest in Wales) topped by a keep ahead of you and an impressive Victorian Gothic Revival mansion to your left. There are hidden Roman remains to be visited later and this large open area was once split in two -so all is not as it first seems. Part of the original dividing wall can be seen in this grassy space.
   The castle is conveniently situated for modern visitors near the city centre and the site must have appealed to invaders with very different motives during the last 2000 or so years.
   Local materials were used to build the walls: blocks of blue lias limestone and large boulders, the latter probably taken from the bed of the River Taff.

Roman occupation
   It would have been the easy access to the sea for transport of supplies that attracted the Romans at the end of the 50's, intent on holding down the warlike Silures and accustoming them to Roman supremacy. In time the troublesome tribesmen found advantages in adapting: improved trade and communication; efficient administration including justice - and the possibility of Roman citizenship. Pirates were also a perceived threat, the snag in being close to the sea.
   Excavations in the 1970's found evidence of 4 forts, three earlier wooden versions and a fourth stone structure which later fell into disuse. It had been the 3rd Marquess of Bute who, deciding to build a new tower on the east, started the digging process in 1888 during which remains of Roman stonework were discovered that had hitherto been unknown. He had these remains exposed and then reconstructed in a manner thought to be authentic at that time with the addition of a gallery for exercise in bad weather. (During World War II, these wall galleries were used as air-raid shelters for up to 2000 people caught out by the siren whilst shopping.)

The Normans
   William the Conqueror founded this castle in 1081 to establish his rule over the stroppy inhabitants of south-east Wales. Robert Fitzhamon became Earl of Gloucester and Lord of Glamorgan and erected many early defences including the motte and a wooden keep on top. During the 12th century these were replaced by stone and the castle changed hands many times: owners included the de Clares, the infamous Despensers and the Beauchamps.

The remains of the Norman dividing wall

   The 12-sided keep, originally surrounded by a moat, is of a structure known as a shell as it once contained other buildings. Despite its height and strength, it was raided in 1158 by the Welsh leader Ifor Bach who abducted the Earl, his wife and son, holding them to ransom until he received back his rightful land. Other threats were posed by Llewelyn ap Gruffudd and Llewelyn Bren. The castle was stormed and damaged in 1404 by Owain Glyndwr during the uprising which unsettled the whole of this area.
    Fascinatingly, Robert Curthose ('short-arse') eldest son of the Conqueror was held prisoner (after a failed rebellion to seize the crown) by his younger brother Henry I  and languished here for many years until his death in 1134. You can spot a small painting of him in the Banqueting Hall. Three executions were those of Sir William Fleminge, made a scapegoat by Hugh Despenser the younger; Llewelyn Bren who was condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered by Hugh, and the heretic Thomas Capper, burnt on the orders of Henry VIII. The Black Tower was used a a prison during the 16th century.
    Castles as fortifications only were becoming less popular by the 14th and 15th centuries and the  owner of Cardiff Castle, Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, built a convenient and comfortable mansion for himself, starting in 1423, on the west side: this contained a Great Hall and family accommodation. Later, the 2nd Earl of Pembroke repaired and modernised the rooms, the keep and the Black Tower as well as adding a tower, a private garden called the Lord's Plaisance and a rather sedate-looking Ladies' Walk.

The Butes
   They were an ancient family who traced their roots back to Scottish kings and, in the period that concerns us, made a vast fortune from coal mined on their estates. They spent huge sums on the castle, completely transforming it by redoing the mansion, adding new Gothic-style wings and employing Henry Holland with 'Capability' Brown to landscape the gardens. He knocked down ancient walls, the medieval chapel and the Shire Hall. Judge for yourself.

The 3rd Marquess of Bute and William Burges.
   An unusual friendship was struck between the young 3rd Marquess, who had been dubbed 'the richest baby in Britain' and the older architect: devoted to the Middle Ages, they created together a unique mansion, elaborately and sometimes humorously decorated with an animal theme throughout. "Billy" Burges (1827-81) was short, stout, vibrant and gifted. He started with the Clock Tower and proceeded to redesign the entire building, paying minute attention to every detail of ornamentation and employing local craftsmen. The result has been termed: "the most magnificent that the gothic revival ever achieved." You can see bedrooms, the library, the Winter Smoking Room, the Banqueting Hall, the Arab Room, the Day Nursery and so on. Animals include bronze beavers, parrots, rabbits, a crocodile, the faithful dog Gelert, and imagined creatures as well as a bestiary on the wall outside. Of all the many wonders within, I find the stained glass on a sunny day the most alluring.

Finally
   After the death of the 4th Marquess and the payment of enormous death duties earlier, the Bute family made the generous decision to gift this colourful and extraordinary castle with most of its park to the City of Cardiff in 1947.  There is also the Firing Line Regimental Museum to complete your stay. In all, the Castle is a fascinating place to visit although one may be critical of previous demolitions - console yourself with the thought that you can see historical development caught and preserved in front of you.  Console yourself also with the marvellous CAKES in the café, all locally made and particularly splendid on Tuesdays. They are proud that the delicacies range from Welsh cakes to Danish pastries thus showing a cosmopolitan range. The shop sells lovely recycled wool throws: the calories I had consumed in lemon drizzle gave me the inspiration to buy one and I am wrapped in it right now!

Cardiff is easy to reach by bus and is a lively, safe-feeling city with many other attractions. You are not far from Caerphilly Castle which is magnificently imposing and a little further away are Chepstow Castle and Raglan Castle as well as the Roman remains at Caerleon.
 For opening times at Cardiff Castle click here.

Trellech: Harold's Stones; St. Anne's Well and Tump Terret

Harold's Stones
   These stand in a field south west of the village of Trellech, the path being signposted. They are an unusual example of alignment of Bronze Age stones, dating from between 3000 and 1000 BC (or possibly Middle or Late Neolothic).  They are in a 12 metre north east to south west line and are therefore unlikely to have been part of a Druidical circle. Neither can they be anything to do with Harold Godwinson's victory over the Welsh in 1063 as was believed previously as they predate him considerably.
    Their heights are between 8 and 14 feet and they were probably dragged here on logs and levered into position for a purpose which is not entirely clear: for rituals, as a sepulchre or for astronomy - or all 3 - since they indicate the midwinter sunset. They are made of conglomerate stone or "puddingstone" which is hard pebbles enclosed in a cement-like rock. (Remind me not to try the local desserts!) Their phallic outline may mean that they were used for fertility rites.
   Legend has it that they were thrown here in a contest between the mystical John of Kent and the Devil, being hurled from the top of Trellech Beacon. John threw first, reaching the outskirts of the village, was then bested by the Devil's first shot but managed a greater distance, upon which the Devil flounced off in a huff. It is said that you can see a hole in the side of the Skirrid where John pressed his heel for support. Much later an experienced dowser from Abergavenny, John Williams, placed his hands on one of the stones and was flung backwards.

   St. Anne's Well
    

  Located near the road to Tintern, this is both a Virtuous Well and a wishing well, the two functions overlapping.  It was a place of pilgrimage and believed, as late as the 17th century, to be curative of, in particular, "scurvy, colic and other distempers". Even in 1839 W.H. Thomas, a medical man, recommended the waters for those suffering from "dyspepsia, hypochondriasis and amenorrhagia" (absence of periods). The iron-rich water or chalybeate had to be drunk on an empty stomach in the morning. As the water may also be an aphrodisiac it might be a good idea to time carefully the drinking of it!

   As a "clootie" well, offerings were placed in niches or pieces of cloth hung from neighbouring trees. If you placed your sock there, your foot trouble would be cured. Fairies were said to drink from harebell cups on All Hallowe'en and a farmer, sceptical of all this magic, who dug up a fairy ring, found the well dry only to him until, warned by a little old man, he replaced the sods and all was - as it were - well!

   Pins and other bright objects were deposited for luck and to tell the future; pebbles were thrown in and the number of resulting bubbles told the wisher if their desires would be granted or refused: the larger the amount the better. As a test for a spinster, each bubble meant a month before a love-lorn maiden would be married. Quite recently flowers and candles were found in the niches inside the stonework (which was restored in 1951 for the Festival of Britain). There may once have been 9 holy wells in Trellech.

Tump Terret

   This mound is 400 feet in circumference and 15 to 20 feet high. It stands in the grounds of Court Farm which is quite near the bus stop and you can see the mound over the fence. It had been believed to be the burial place of either Harold's men or Welshmen fighting the battle of 1063 but now it is thought to be the motte of a 12th century castle possibly built by the de Clare family, the bailey having disappeared. The ditch can be seen only on the northern side.  For a long time it was believed to be unlucky to dig here and it has never been fully excavated.

Excavations

    In 2005, Stuart Wilson, a young archaeology graduate and a member of the Monmouth Archaeological Society, followed his hunch that there would be the remains of the ancient city in a field across the road from St. Anne's Well and bought it. They followed dips and flat places in the land to find the spot. On-going excavations have revealed the stone foundations of a fortified moated manor house house dating from 1250 and an industrial quarter on this minor road to Catbrook. The diggers have found evidence of a serious fire which destroyed the house possibly during a battle in 1296 in which the Welsh destroyed what they felt to be an alien town, planted by the Normans. It is all fascinating proof of the existence of a substantial Medieval settlement and a fitting end to your visit.

   To see all these sites, you can head off across wet fields, getting soaked feet or risk leaving this life prematurely by walking on the roads. I tried both in my dedication to giving you the best recommendation and now advise wearing wellies and going mildly rough.

   My account of the village and church can be found by clicking here. You are on the no 65 bus route to Monmouth where, if you are interested in legends, you can see the window where Geoffrey of Monmouth is believed to have written about King Arthur and popularised the character for all times. Another lovely holy well can be found in Llangybi on the 60 bus from Monmouth to Newport. Alternatively you can go south on the 65 to Chepstow and thrill at the castle there.

Trellech - a lost city and its church

Trellech
   This is the spelling most commonly adopted from over 20 variants recorded between 1223 and 1677. There is also disagreement over the meaning of the name, some people taking it to mean "3 stones" and some "town of the stones."  It is 800 feet above sea level and there is an old saying: "Trellech is 2 coats colder than Monmouth."
   What is now a small village was once a large town with, by 1288, 388 burgage plots, making it bigger than Chepstow or Cardiff. It was probably planned by the de Clare family, as an intrusively English settlement in a Welsh area and a speculative venture to exploit local supplies of iron ore from the Forest of Dean for armoury. It had borough status in the Middle Ages with its own mayor, charter and town seal the last of which was found by diligent school children.
    It then suffered set-backs from the plagues of 1348 and 1361-2 as well as from Owain Glyndwr's men in the early 15th century. It had been burned in the 13th century in a raid following a dispute over alleged deer poaching. Being upland and some distance from river transport did not help its economy although its sheep rearing was important. I have been told that there was a grange here belonging to Tintern Abbey.
    There are many local customs associated with the town: Easter was the time for preparing the fields symbolically by a ritual known as "walking the wheat" when farmers and their families went up and down fields of young crops, each carrying a small cake and cider. They would eat a bit, bury a bit and throw a bit into the air, repeating a verse as they did so. On Good Friday small loaves were baked to be kept for a year unless needed in ground form for illness. There was also the custom of roping the bride and groom after a wedding ceremony: boys and girls blocked their way out from the church with a rope which was withdrawn only when the newly married man threw coins for them (he would come prepared with a pocketful of pennies, threepenny bits and sixpences!). Other observances took place at St. Anne's Well, the Virtuous Well.

St. Nicholas' Church

    This interesting church is right by the bus stop and has, in the graveyard, this 15th century Preaching Cross, with its chamfered steps, slender octagonal shaft and small cross on top. The way the shaft suddenly tapers suggests that there may have been a middle section, now missing. It is well over 600 years old.
  The church itself is constructed in local Old Red Sandstone and is early 14th century, having been rebuilt after a fire in 1296. (There was probably a wooden church here as early as the 7th or 8th century). The steeple is of squared masonry and the door has a splendid four-light window over it. The octagonal spire rises from behind a battlemented parapet and, inside, the tower arch is impressively high and pointed, the altar rails being 17th century. The nave is Early English. You can also see, below a window, the Royal Coat of Arms of Charles II dated 1683.
   For many visitors, the most intriguing item is the sundial set up in 1689 by Lady Magdalen Probert and moved inside - although a replica stands in a nearby field.

  Latin inscriptions may be made out, celebrating the town's landmarks:
MAGNA MOLE (Great in its Mound - a reference to the Norman motte)
MAIOR SAXIS (Greater in its Stones - Harold's Stones)
MAXIMA FONTE (Greatest in its Well - St. Anne's Well)
   You can also read: "O QUOT HIC SEPULTI" (Oh how many are buried here!) and
"HIC FUIT VICTOR HARALDUS" (Here Harold was victorious) and the attribution to Lady Probert.
   Skeletons were found under the floor of the church, probably hastily buried during the Great Plagues of the 14th century.
   (I have written about these 3 sites in my next blog post along with some information about the on-going archaeological dig).

Your Visit
   You may want to stop off at the 16th century Lion Inn for refreshments before going to see the other ancient places of interest.

 
 Trellech is on the no 65 bus route between Chepstow with its impressive castle and Monmouth, the birthplace of King Henry V.  Lots more CAKE opportunities in both places.

Usk Castle

Domesticated castle

  "Charming" is an unusual word to use of a venerable ancient monument but Usk Castle has that magical quality. It is owned by the Humphreys family and has a relaxed, intimate feel with plump chickens happily scratching, geese sometimes present and the reindeer for the annual Santa parade stabled here beforehand. I once stopped off there with my family en route for a long walk and we found ourselves still lolling in the sun two hours later.  We then had a gentle pootle on the ramparts! On another occasion, the chickens were out on the grass and six golden brown feathery bundles started pecking our trousers gently as if they were administering acupuncture - so soothing!

A few dates

   Construction was probably started soon after the Norman Conquest and the Keep is the earliest stone structure, built by Richard de Clare, aka Strongbow, after he recovered it in the twelfth century. The main imposing castle dates from the time of William Marshall (early thirteenth century) who won de Clare's daughter by knocking the future King Richard I off his horse in a joust. The first record is in 1138 when the Welsh seized it from the de Clare family. It has changed ownership many times. In 1185, £10.35 was spent on it by the Crown and there was a substantial garrison of 10 archers, 10 residents, 15 'mobile' sergeants, 4 watchmen, a chaplain and clerk. One wonders who did the cooking! 

Usk battle

   The last major event in the history of the castle was the battle of Pwll Melyn ( Yellow Pool) where the forces of Owain Glyndwr, led by his eldest son, were defeated by the English. Archdeacon Coxe wrote in 1799 that "no castle in Monmouthshire has been subject to more frequent assaults" and we know it was in ruins by 1587. It was probably in 1750 that the old gatehouse was converted into Castle House by the Duke of Beaufort.

Still idiosyncratic

   More recently Simon Jenkins described it as "wild, unmanicured and idiosyncratic" and, although it has been tidied up and is very well maintained, it remains informal and personal.  Visitors are asked to make a small donation and transfer a pebble from one bowl to another for record keeping, surely the most delightful way of keeping accounts.

Other attractions

   Usk Castle is a short walk north from Twyn Square and is well worth the detour, being both relaxing and atmospheric. There is glamping at nearby Castle Knights in Medieval (style!) pavilions as well as events throughout the year. Weddings can be held here and where better? If you fancy a short walk you can take the path to the right of the car park and see the Medieval battle site of Pwll Melyn. The number 60 bus will take you on to Raglan with its imposing castle or, in the other direction, to Caerleon with its Roman remains.

For opening hours click here: the castle is open during reasonable daylight hours.