You know I love a castle so seeing 3 in one day is a great day. Now these were all ruins but there was enough still standing to really get the feel of the places

Tretower Court and Castle was our first stop of the day. Tretower was more intact manor house with castle ruins out back. The castle was started around 1100 by a Norman invader named Picard. The tower from which the castle got its name was not completed until 1250. Picard built in a valley so it was not a strategic stronghold more of a status symbol.

The manor house was built in the 14th century it was updated in the 1450s by Roger Vaughan who was given the property by the Earl of Pembroke (also his half brother). Roger Vaughan was a Yorkist who executed Owain Tudor, grandfather to Henry Tudor, and then was executed himself by Jasper Tudor (Owain’s son and Henry’s uncle). Vaughan’s execution was at Chepstow castle that we visited yesterday.

Back to the castle, before all the war stuff Vaughan “modernized” the manor home by adding a second story including a solar that was becoming all the rage in comfortable 15th century living. Then current house is set up as it would have been in the 1500s with replica wall hangings that depict Vaughan and Edward’s battle histories. Be sure to enlarge the last photo to see the Vaughan’s battle insignia – the snake choking the man. It is rather strange.

The castle sits behind the manor house. There is not much to it but the round tower. There are some cute goats that live on sight to protect it.

From the castle we headed into Abergavenny for lunch and a brief stop at the Priory Church of St Mary’s to see several Herbert tombs and a large statute of Jesse, King David’s father. Carved in the 15th century out of one solid piece to wood the statute originally between 20 and 30 feet tall with tree branches depicting all of Jesse’s descendants.

The church either anticipated Arthur and Katherine of Aragon’s attendance or wanted to honor them with seats in the quire because there were pomegranates carved in one seat and a gryphon in the other.

Val and I wandered the town and got a quick bite at a bakery before heading back to the bus. The town was pretty cute and had a few shops and several lunch options but nothing really exciting.

Next stop Raglan Castle. Again the castle was in ruins but they were substantial. Raglan castle was originally built after the Norman conquest by the Earl of Hereford on a strategic hilltop. The Bloet family held it from the 12-14th century (possible early days of the Blewett family). By 14th century William ap Thomas a lessor son of a minor Welsh family took over the castle and through good marriages and local offices he built the structure we see today. His son dropped his welsh style name and became William Herbert and rose in prominence under the house of York. He was later executed after the battle of Edgecote in 1469.

Of major importance Henry Tudor was made a ward of William Herbert after Jasper Tudor fled Pembroke castle in 1462. Herbert took Henry to Raglan where he was raised with the family and appears to have had a similar to other children of his status. In fact once Henry became King he brought Herbert’s widow Lady Anne Devereux.

Margaret Beaufort visited her sone at Raglan Castle when she was 24 and he was 11. It was one of their few meetings before he defeated Richard III at Bosworth.

The castle itself is quite large and there were many areas to explore.

I climbed to the top of the tower- narrow circular staircase

From raglan we headed to Goodrich castle. It was much smaller. It had been one of the last holdouts during the civil war. The parliamentarians had pretty much one the war but about 60 men were trying to hold this castle and the surrounding area. The Royalists would sneak out at night and raid the Parliamentarians and they eventually got tired of it and brought in Big Bess.

It couldn’t take down the walls but did destroy the roofs and made living there dangerous so they surrendered. King Charles had already surrendered so this was basically the end of the Civil War. Of course it started up again a few years later when Charles son wanted to take back the thrown but that is a story for another day.

This was our last castle of the day and it was back to our hotel. Dinner was on our own so Val and I headed out to find a new place for dinner. We ended up at a pub on the bay that had live music. I had a lamb burger and it was delicious Val’s chicken sandwich not so much. Still not A bad night as we walked back to our hotel room get everything packed up to move on tomorrow.