Raglan Castle is a majestic carcass of a building set within the rolling Monmouthshire landscape. The earliest parts of this late medieval ruin were erected in the 1430’s in pale sandstone, with later additions in Old Red sandstone as well as Bath Stone for detailed features. Today it is not only a visitor attraction, but also recognised as a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Monument. Through its exposed positioning and unique shape, it is palpable that the castle was designed to be approached and entered from every angle, as it actively encourages you to walk around it and view its varied facdes. This element has thankfully not been lost as there is no set visitor route and nothing precious about the castle’s presentation – even dogs are welcome to explore the ruin and go up the stone spiral staircases on a lead. Over the centuries Raglan passed from the Herbert family to the Somerset family via marriage, and underwent siege during the English Civil War in the 1640’s as the owners were Royalists. The castles’ thick stone exterior made for strong fortifications and the building only surrendered when the base of the Great Tower was demolished by hand with pickaxes, leaving what was above it to collapse. The colossal dimensions of these walls remains impressive today, and is most evident in the windows and stairwells where the sheer scale of the stone masonry is explicitly exposed. Raglan was neglected by the Somerset family after the War as they decided to put money into repairing other properties and left the castle to deteriorate. In 1938 it was placed in the guardianship of the Commissioners of HM Works and underwent two decades of repair following the Second World War. Today the castle and tower are open once again offering an insight into the socio-political history of the area, as well as stunning views of the Welsh panorama it sits in.
For more information visit their website
ExhibitionSmith - Museum & Gallery Reviews 