Raglan Castle

Early history of the castle Following the Norman invasion of Wales, the area around the village of Raglan was granted to William FitzOsbern, the Earl of Hereford. Some historians, such as John Kenyon, suspect that an early motte and bailey castle may have been built on the Raglan site during this period: the location had strategic importance and archaeologists have discovered the remains of a possible bailey ditch on the site. By the late medieval period the Raglan site was surrounded by the large deer parks of Home Park and Red Deer Park, the latter being enclosed at the end of the period. 15th to 16th centuries The current Raglan Castle was begun by Sir William ap Thomas, the lesser son of a minor Welsh family who rose through the ranks of mid-15th century politics, profiting from the benefits of the local offices he held. William married first Elizabeth, a wealthy heiress, and then Gwladus, another heiress who would prove to be a powerful regional figure in her own right. In 1432, Sir William purchased the manor of Raglan, where he had already been staying as a tenant, for 1,000 marks (£666 13s 4d) and commenced a programme of building work that established the basic shape of the castle as seen today, although most of it—with the exception of the South Gate and the Great Tower—was later built over. Sir William's son dropped the Welsh version of his name, calling himself William Herbert. He was also closely associated with Welsh politics and status; he was the first Welshman to be made an earl and was described by contemporary poets as the "national deliverer" who might achieve Welsh independence. In the 1460s William used his increasing wealth to remodel Raglan on a much grander scale. The symbolism of the castle architecture may have reflected the Welsh family roots: historian Matthew Johnson has suggested that the polygonal towers were possibly designed to imitate those of Caernarfon Castle, whose architecture carries numerous allusions to the eventual return of a Roman Emperor to Wales. Historian Anthony Emery has described the resulting castle as one of the "last formidable displays of medieval defensive architecture". There was an important link between Raglan Castle and the surrounding parkland, in particular the Home Park and the Red Deer Park. In the 15th century there were also extensive orchards and fish ponds surrounding the castle, favourably commented upon by contemporaries. By 1492, the castle passed to Elizabeth Somerset, William Herbert's daughter, who married Sir Charles Somerset, passing the castle into a new family line. Sir Charles Somerset was politically successful under both Henry VII and Henry VIII, being made the Earl of Worcester. The Somerset family owned two key castles in the region, Raglan and Chepstow, and these appeared to have figured prominently as important status symbols in paintings owned by the family. 17th century ; red and blue triangles represent the location of Parliamentarian and Royalist earthwork bastions; A and B indicate the locations of the Parliamentary and Royalist artillery batteries. Edward Somerset made minor improvements to the interior of the castle at the start of the 17th century, but focused primarily on the exterior, expanding and developing the gardens and building the moat walk around the Great Tower. The resulting gardens were considered the equal of any others in the kingdom at the time. Upon inheriting Raglan in 1628, Henry Somerset, then the 5th Earl of Worcester, continued to live a grand lifestyle in the castle in the 1630s, with a host of staff, including a steward, Master of Horse, Master of Fishponds, surveyors, auditors, ushers, a falconer and many footmen. The interior walls were hung with rich tapestries from Arras in France, while an inventory taken in 1639 recorded a large number of silver and gilt plate kept in the Great Tower, including an ostrich egg cup, and a silver basket for oranges and lemons, then luxury items in Wales. Mead was a popular drink in the castle, but contemporaries described the castle as being a particular sober and respectful community. Henry developed the entrance route to the castle, including building the Red Gate. The defences of Raglan were improved after this, with modern earthwork bastions built around the castle and a powder mill created; a garrison of around 300 men was established at a cost of £40,000. Heavier cannon were installed in the bastions, with lighter pieces placed in the castle towers. Lord Herbert left the castle to join the campaign against Parliament, returning at intervals to acquire more funds for the war. Charles I himself visited the castle twice, first in June 1645 after the battle of Naseby and again in 1646, when he enjoyed playing bowls on the castle's green. The Royalist cause was now close to military collapse, and the Marquess started to send some valuables, including the oak panelling from the parlour, some plaster ceiling and many pictures, to his brother at nearby Troy House for safe-keeping. Lord Herbert was captured in Ireland, and an attack on Raglan itself appeared imminent. Large amounts of food were brought in to support the growing castle community, which also included a number of the wider Herbert family and other regional Royalist leaders who had sought shelter there. The first Parliamentary army arrived in early June, under the command of Colonel Morgan and Sir Trevor Williams. After several calls for the castle to surrender, a siege ensued, lasting through the summer months. Fairfax's men began to dig trenches towards the castle, and used these to move mortars forward, probably including the famous "Roaring Meg", bringing the interior of the castle into artillery range. Fairfax ordered the castle to be totally destroyed under the supervision of Henry Herbert, a descendant of William ap Thomas. The fortifications proved too strong, however, and only a few of the walls were destroyed, or slighted. The castle's library, including an important collection of Welsh documents and books, was either stolen or destroyed. Henry Somerset, the 3rd Marquess, decided to prioritise the rebuilding of his other houses at Troy and Badminton, rather than Raglan, reusing some of the property sent away for safety before the war, or salvaged after the slighting. One particular estate surveyor called Hopkins became known as the "Grand Dilapidator", due to the number of chimneys, window frames and staircases he had removed from the castle. Henry Somerset, the 5th Duke, finally put an end to this practice in 1756, and the castle became a tourist attraction, part of the popular Wye Tour. The Monmouthshire antiquarian Joseph Bradney recorded a visit to the castle by Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, then Prince and Princess of Wales, in October 1881. In 1938 Henry Somerset, the 10th Duke, entrusted guardianship of Raglan Castle to the Commissioner of Works, and the castle became a permanent tourist attraction. Between 2003 and 2007 Cambrian Archaeological Projects led excavations at the castle in advance of a planned new visitor centre. ==Architecture==

: A – Great Tower; B – Moat; C – Gatehouse and bridge; D – Closet Tower; E – Pitched Stone Court; F – Office wing; G – Pantry; H – Kitchen; I – Parlour; J – Hall; K – Buttery; L – Long Gallery; M – Fountain Court; N – Apartments; O – South Gate and bridge; P – Moat walk Raglan Castle was built in several phases, initial work occurring in the 1420s and 1430s, a major phase in the 1460s, with various alterations and additions at the end of the 16th century. The castle was built in stone, initially pale sandstone from Redbrook, and later Old Red Sandstone, with Bath Stone used for many of the detailed features. Like similar properties of the period, the castle of the 1460s was almost certainly designed to be approached and entered in a particular way, maximising the aesthetic and political value of the fortification. At Raglan, the design highlighted the Great Tower: a typical senior visitor would ride through Raglan village, and first the tower and then the rest of the castle would appear suddenly over the slight rise on the hill. Only then would a privileged guest be able to enter the Great Tower itself, overlooking the Herbert family's own chambers. Another line of debate has been over the nature of the castle's defences, in particular its gunloops. Many castles built around the same time as Raglan appear to have been built with less concern for defences than in the past, their military features more symbolic than real. At Raglan, there are numerous gunloops throughout the castle's defences, but many were ill-placed if the intention was to use them in a conflict; some could barely have been used at all. Traditionally, an evolutionary explanation for this was given: Raglan's gunloops were of an early period, later surpassed in other castles. Anthony Emery notes that Raglan's gunloops were better sited than many at the time, and at least "the owner was up to date in his symbolism"; Robert Liddiard suggests that the poor placing of some of the gunloops for aesthetic purposes might have actually been a conversation point for those visitors with experience of fighting in France and the "correct" placing of such defences. Gatehouse and Closet Tower The three-storey gatehouse to Raglan Castle dates from the 1460s and is approached over a stone bridge restored in 1949. Characterised by extensive machicolations and gunloops, the gatehouse would originally have had a twin-set of portcullises and a drawbridge. The intention of the design was at least partially defensive, but was also intended to provide a dramatic and impressive entrance for senior visitors to the castle. The upper part of the gatehouse provided chambers for the constable of the castle. On the east side of the gatehouse is the three-storey Closet Tower; this was designed to be integral to the gatehouse, and may have contained the original castle treasury, conveniently accessible by the constable. The Closet Tower was partly altered in later years, possibly to allow the basement to be used as a magazine in the English Civil War. On the east side of the court is the former office wing, a 16th-century construction mostly destroyed during the siege of 1646. In the 1460s, the first floors to these buildings included chambers for the senior servants. The buttery in the north-west corner would have been used to store and serve beer and wine. On the south-west side of the court is the hall, a 16th-century design incorporating an earlier hall on the same site. wide, the hall was originally high, with a roof made of Irish oak, lit and ventilated by a cupola in the middle. A large oriel window lit the end of the hall occupied at dinner by the earls of Worcester, which by the time Raglan was built would have been used only for larger formal occasions. Originally, the hall would have been fitted with carved wooden panelling and a minstrel's gallery. The fountain was probably installed somewhat after the initial construction of the court in the 1460s, dating instead to Edward Somerset in the late 16th century; the horse symbolised Edward's prestigious role as Master of the Horse. The Fountain Court was built to provide luxurious accommodation for the family and guests—by the 15th century, it was important to be able to provide private chambers for visitors, and this court could hold up to four distinct groups of visitors in comfort. The Fountain Court as a whole is marked by what Augustus Pugin described as extremely fine, elegant and delicate stonework. The castle chapel runs alongside the east side of the court, long and originally laid with bright yellow and tiles and decorated with gold and silver vestments. The Long Gallery stretches across the whole east first-floor of the Fountain Court and, although now ruined, would have been a show-piece for the earls' wealth and power. The gallery was long and during the Tudor period it would have been wood-panelled throughout and lined with tapestries and paintings. The Long Gallery was intended to allow family and guests to relax inside and to admire the gardens, water gardens and the deer park to the north of the castle. Although most of this decoration has since been lost, two caryatid statues can still be seen on the walls of the Long Gallery, modelled on a work by the French artist Hugues Sambin. The west side of the Fountain Court comprises the apartments, with a number of bay windows and window seats facing west and north across the park. The Grand Staircase divides the apartments; restored between 2010 and 2011, the staircase would originally have had a substantial porch, similar to the one that survives in the Pitched Stone Court, and would have been a centre-piece of the Fountain Court. Although examples of such straight-flight staircases can be found in other late-medieval buildings, the architectural historian John Newman considers the Grand Staircase had "a grandeur hard to parallel in 15th-century England." The apartments to the west of the staircase are more complex than the others, designed to create somewhat greater privacy, and overlooked the gardens to the west of the castle. On the south side of the court is the South Gate, the original entrance to the castle prior to the 1460s reconstruction. The fan-vaulted gatehouse closely resembles the contemporary cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral, but by the 16th century had been converted to the entrance to the bowling green in the terrace beyond. These were intended to provide rooms that were more private than the main hall, but more public than a personal chamber. Now ruined, they would originally have been decorated with carved wainscoting and elaborate, carved chimney-pieces. Alongside these rooms, overlooking the Great Tower, were the private rooms for the lord's family, of higher quality than the other accommodation in the castle. Some of the carved badges and shields on the external walls of these state apartments still remain intact, as in the hall; these were a popular contemporary feature of 15th-century great castles, and would have created a similar effect to those at Warkworth Castle in Northumberland and Raby Castle in County Durham. Great Tower The Great Tower at Raglan Castle, sometimes called the Yellow Tower of Gwent, sits outside the rest of the castle, protected by a moat and linked to the Fountain Court by a bridge. The fortification is representative of a trend during the 15th and 16th centuries in British castle building: tower keeps such as this, large, solid buildings designed for private accommodation, probably inspired by those in France, had started to appear in the 14th century at Dudley and Warkworth. In the 15th century the fashion spread, with the creation of French-influenced palatial castles featuring complex tower keeps, such as those at Wardour and Tattershall. These were expensive buildings to construct, each built to a unique design and, as historian Norman Pounds has suggested, "were designed to allow very rich men to live in luxury and splendour". The hexagonal Great Tower was probably begun in the 1430s and 1440s, possibly on the motte of a previous castle. The tower today has lost not only one of its walls but part of its upper structure, and would originally have been three storeys high with probably additional machicolations on top similar to those on the gatehouse. It was designed to be a self-contained fortification, with its own water and food supplies, and luxurious quarters lit by large windows on the upper floors. Originally the tower was reached by a bascule drawbridge, usually considered to be drawn from contemporary French designs, such as those at Ferté-Milon and Vannes. The drawbridge was replaced with a grander stone bridge in the 1460s, probably at a cost of around £900 to £1000. The original moat around the tower would have been a simple design, but it was redesigned in the 1460s to provide a walkway around the outside of the Great Tower. The niches in the walls of the walkway are of 17th-century origin, and would originally have held classical statues—the walkway would have provided a dignified way of admiring the Great Tower. The castle's parks reverted to agricultural use by the 19th century, and Raglan is now surrounded by fields. ==See also==