Chepstow Castle

While our morning had been spent enjoying the civilised greenery of a dutch water garden, our afternoon was dominated by the formidable Chepstow Castle and, boy, what a Castle it is.

Chepstow is a magnificent castle strung out along a lengthy limestone promontory on top of tall cliffs overlooking the river Wye. The builders of Chepstow were some of the wealthiest and most powerful men of the medieval and Tudor periods: Earl William fitz Osbern (d. 1071); King William I (1066-87); William Marshal, earl of Pembroke (d.1219); Roger Bigod, earl of Norfolk (d.1306) and Charles Somerset, earl of Worcester (d. 1526).

According to the Doomsday Book, the castle was established by William fitz Osbern, a loyal supporter of William the Conqueror, after the Battle of Hastings. It was one of many built to secure the border with Wales.

The murder holes next to the portcullis

In 1189 the castle passed to William Marshal. He started out a poor but chivalrous knight but gained favour with the king for his loyalty and valour. He was rewarded with gifts of lands and titles, along with marriage to the heiress of Chepstow, Isabel de Clare. Using his knowledge of castles in the Holy Land and his newly-found wealth William fortified the castle on a grand scale. Each of his five sons inherited the castle and they continued to improve its defences and accommodation.

On the death of the last son, the castle passed to the Bigod family. Roger Bigod II inherited large estates in 1270, and supported Edward I's military campaigns in Wales, Ireland and Scotland. He used his considerable wealth to make Chepstow a palatial stronghold, building an extensive range of buildings in the lower bailey.

Views from the Lower Bailey

The original doors made in the 1190s making them the oldest castle doors in Europe

Zac looks out towards the English border

The Great Hall

You can still see the remains of the interior arch way which divided the first floor

The kids looked so tiny in the massive Hall

In the Upper Barbican

In 1507, Charles Somerset became lord of Chepstow. He was a favourite of the Tudor monarchs, Henry VII and Henry VIII, and a very powerful man. He expected high standards of comfort and privacy and consequently built a suite of apartments on either side of the wall dividing the lower and middle baileys (though little remains now). He also improved other buildings, adding new, larger windows and fireplaces

The rose engraved window in what would have been the private chapel

A view from the battlements across the village

In the Civil War, the castle was besieged and taken by Parliamentarians in both 1645 and 1648. After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the castle’s fortifications were repaired and modified to take cannon, and gun loops were added for musket fire. The castle was used as barracks and as a prison for political dissidents. When the garrison was disbanded in 1685 parts of the castle were demolished and the lower bailey given over to industrial use.

The castle today is still simply amazing with incredible views of the tidal river, Wye. The Castle seems to rise out of the rock itself and it is not too hard to imagine how its very presence managed to 'subdue' the locals. We have now visited one or two castles during our time in the UK and all agreed that Chepstow would have to be one of the finest and formidable.