Chepstow Castle
Chepstow Castle
Introduction
The ruins of Chepstow Castle have a spectacular setting on cliffs over the
River Wye. This powerful defensive position can best be seen from several points
on the English side of the river. Entered by the Gateway at the lower end of
town, its long shape, hugging the cliff edge, shows clearly its several stages
of development from its early Norman beginnings.
Building commenced the year after the Battle of Hastings in 1067, in stone -
an indication of the castle's importance - as most other Norman fortresses of
this time were of Motte and Bailey form and constructed from wood. William
Fitzosbern used his castle to subdue the Welsh of Gwent. His son and successor,
Roger, lost the castle to the king after an unsuccessful rebellion in 1075.
During the 12th century the castle was massively fortified. In the 13th century
most building was of a domestic character but further fortifications were added
to prepare the castle for the Welsh wars in which, however, it played no part.
In the 14th century it changed hands many times, and its importance declined. It
was re-garrisoned in 1403 and its strength prevented it being attacked by Owain
Glyndwr. In the 16th century the buildings were adapted for a more comfortable
occupation and came to resemble more a great house than a castle. Yet in the
first Civil War, it was held by the Royalists, who surrendered in 1645. During
the second Civil War the castle, once more held for the king, was besieged,
using guns which breached the walls. The castle was taken and its commander, Sir
Nicholas Kemeys, killed. It was repaired by the Parliamentarians. During the
Civil War and afterwards it was used as a prison - famous "guests"
were the Royalist Bishop Jeremy Taylor. and the Regicide Henry Marten, whose
name is now applied to the Tower in where he spent 12 years in comfortable
captivity until his death in 1680. The garrison and guns left in 1690 and the
castle's defences were "dismantled". The castle was allowed to decay
and areas of it used for small industries. It was eventually passed over to the
care of the State in 1953.
The castle is open to the public daily throughout the year and ample parking
is provided off Bridge Street, immediately below the castle.
CADW, who act as custodians, have produced a comprehensive guide book for the
castle which is available, together with a wide range of souvenirs, at the
castle gift shop.
First Castle
An entry in Domesday Book (1086) informs us that Chepstow Castle was built by
William Fitz Osbern. Fitz Osbern, lord of Breteuil in Normandy, was created Earl
of Hereford immediately after the Norman Conquest and devoted his energies until
his death in 1071 to pushing his boundary westwards at the expense of the Welsh
of Gwent. The site of the castle cannot have been much behind his original
frontier. Its purpose seems to have been not so much defensive as to provide a
secure base for further advances. For this it was admirably placed, being on the
Welsh side of the Wye at the point where the river was crossed by the main land
route into South Wales; moreover it overlooked a harbour through which the
castle could be supplied at all times of the year from Bristol, and from which
supplies could be forwarded by water either northwards up the river or westwards
along the coast. Before he died Earl William had subdued most of the present
county of Gwent and there can be no doubt that Chepstow Castle played a
significant part in his campaigns.
Much of Fitz Osbern's castle still survives. On the narrowest part of the
ridge he built a large oblong tower of two storeys, the upper of which was his
hall. The tower still stands, though altered and heightened at later dates. At
each end of it he enclosed a section of the ridge with a stone wall, parts of
which can yet be seen in the southern curtains of the upper and middle baileys.
Masonry castles were not common in the earliest years of the Conquest, and the
use of stone rather than earthwork and timber, though no doubt partly to be
accounted for by the rocky site, may also be an indication of the castle's early
importance.
Earl William was succeeded by his son Roger of Breteuil, who in 1075, as a
result of his part in an unsuccessful rebellion against the king, lost the
earldom and with it the castle of Chepstow. For the next forty years the castle
remained in royal hands until, in Ills, Henry I granted it, together with a very
large area of land in what are now the counties of Gwent and Gloucestershire, to
Walter Fitz Richard, one of the great family of Clare. Thus was created the
lordship marcher of Striguil which, though later reduced in size, was to survive
until the incorporation of the Marches into the realm by Henry VIII. There is no
evidence that Walter made any additions to the castle, which was above the
average of his day for strength and amenity, but his active interest in the
lordship is shown by his foundation of Tintern Abbey in 1131. On his death
without children in 1138 the king regranted his land and honours to his nephew
Gilbert.
This Gilbert, the first of two successive bearers of the name Strongbow, died
in 1148 and was succeeded by his son Richard, the conqueror of Leinster. Largely
as a result of his Irish adventure his relations with Henry II became strained
and his Welsh castles were taken into the king's hands. Thus Chepstow Castle was
held by the Crown in 1170; soon after; however, it was returned, and was in the
earl’s hands in 1173 when Hoel ap Iorwerth raided the lordship.
Earl Richard died in 1176, leaving as his heir an unmarried daughter
Isabella, whose lands and castles were therefore held by Henry II in wardship.
The countess lived at the castle, which was placed in charge of a royal
constable, and the accounts show that money was spent on the repair of the
buildings and on the wages of a chaplain and his clerk, a porter and three
watchmen, ten men-at-arms and ten archers in garrison, and another fifteen
men-at-arms based on the castle. A chaplain implies the existence of a chapel,
although no remains of a chapel of this period have been found.
From 1189-127O
In 1189 Isabella was given in marriage to the great William Marshal, one of the
outstanding soldiers of his age, and at Chepstow Castle, as at Pembroke, which
also came to him from his wife, he began at once to bring the defences up to
date. His work consisted of building the curtain wall which divides the middle
from the lower bailey, together with its gateway and towers. Though much altered
in the sixteenth century, the work is of interest in that it affords one of the
earliest examples in Britain both of the use of rounded mural towers and of the
provision of true shooting slits. Little is known of the history of the castle
during Earl William's tenure except that during July 1217 the young King Henry
III stayed in it for some days. The earl died in 1219 and was succeeded first by
his eldest son, another William, and then in turn by four other sons, all of
whom died without issue. The sons of Marshal were, like their father, great
builders, and the castle was greatly enlarged and strengthened by them. In 1228
the younger William received a grant from the king of ten oaks from the Forest
of Dean for use in the tower of the castle. He died early in 1231 and was
succeeded by his brother Richard.
Richard did not at once obtain possession of his lands, which the king kept
in his own hands until August 1231. In December 1232 the king spent some time at
the castle as the earl's guest, but the following year saw a complete breach
between them, which was never healed. Earl Richard retired to Ireland, where he
was murdered in April 1234. He was succeeded by his brother Gilbert who, aided
by further gifts of oaks, at once resumed the work begun by William and probably
suspended during the troubled years of Richard. Earl Gilbert was killed in a
tournament in 1241, and was succeeded by his brother Walter. On Walter's death
in 124S, the inheritance passed to the youngest brother Anselm, the last of the
male line of the Marshals, who died at the castle in the same year.
The sons of the Marshal left the castle much increased in size and strength.
The tower, or Great Tower as it is now convenient to call it, was remodelled;
large windows were inserted at first-floor level on the secure north side; an
additional storey, probably to provide a chamber, was built over its western
third, involving the spanning of the hall by an ornate arcade, now mostly
destroyed; and a gallery built against its north wall covering the doorway to
the cellar of the tower.
The younger Marshals' work on the Great Tower was, however, only a small part
of their whole achievement. The middle bailey was strengthened by the addition
of a flanking tower to its south curtain and the curtain itself largely rebuilt.
The upper bailey was rebuilt even more extensively with a fine rectangular tower
to command its western gateway. Beyond this the castle was further extended by
the addition of a small walled enclosure now known as the barbican. At this
period its gate consisted of a simple arch in the curtain, which had no parados
except on the south; its south-west tower seems to have been an afterthought
added after the work had been begun. On the east the Marshals added a larger and
stronger outer bailey. Its double-towered gatehouse and the lower part of the
much rebuilt east curtain show that this was no mere outer enclosure but
represented an increase in the size of the main body of the castle, and one may
suppose that a tower similar to the added south tower of the middle bailey was
built at this time in the position later occupied by Marten's Tower.
On Anselm Marshal's death his lands were divided among his five sisters or
their heirs and the lordship of Striguil was accordingly partitioned. The castle
together with the s6uthem part of the lordship passed to Maud, the eldest
sister, and subsequently, on her death in 1248, to her son Roger Bigod II, Earl
of Norfolk, who held Chepstow until his own death in 1270. The earl's centre of
influence was in East Anglia, and it does not appear that he had any great
concern for his lordship of Striguil. His son Roger Bigod III, however, whose
status as a lord marcher helped him to play a prominent part in affairs in the
reign of Edward I, displayed much interest in it and, besides rebuilding the
abbey church of Tintern and providing Chepstow with its town wall, made
additions of the utmost importance to the castle.
Chepstow Under Roger Bigod III, 1270-13O6
Some of the accounts of Roger III's receivers at Chepstow have been preserved
and these enable fairly close dates to be assigned to his various buildings. The
earliest was the western gatehouse, completed c. 1272. The next five or
six years do not appear to have seen any work of importance at the castle, but
are likely to have witnessed the building of the town wall. Then, about the year
1278, operations were resumed on the castle and carried on with little
interruption until 1300. We know from the accounts that the master mason during
these years was a Master Ralf, who was paid a wage of 2 shillings a week.
Hitherto the life of the castle had centred on the hall in the Great Tower.
Now a completely new range of domestic buildings was planned to occupy the north
side of the lower bailey. This work was begun about 1278, and was probably
completed by 1285, in time for a visit by Edward I in December of that year.
The next task to be undertaken was the building of the splendid tower at the
south-east angle of the castle, generally known today as Marten's Tower. This
entailed the breaching of the curtain and probably the demolition of an earlier
tower, a course felt to be safe, no doubt, after the decisive defeat of the
Welsh in 1283. By 1287, when war again broke out in South Wales, the building of
the tower had been begun, though it was not completed until about 1293. The last
operation was the building of the eastern two-thirds of the upper storey of the
Great Tower. In 1291 Master Ralf travelled to Framlingham in Suffolk to see the
earl and it seems reasonable to suppose that one of the matters discussed was
the plan of this work which seems to have been begun in the following year. With
its completion in 1300 the castle achieved the form which it retained unaltered
until Tudor times, and which, in substance, it still bears today.
Chepstow was too far from the areas of serious conflict to be actively
involved in Edward I's Welsh wars. Nevertheless, it would certainly have been
prepared to play its part as a great fortress if the fighting had reached as far
south as Gwent. In 1298-99 one Reginald, a master engineer, provided four
military engines called "springalds" for the defence of the castle,
one mounted on the Great Tower and the others on three other towers.
Roger Bigod III had no children, and Chepstow was therefore destined on his
death to pass to his brother John. But he was heavily in debt and the king was
anxious to obtain possession of his inheritance. In 1302 an agreement was
accordingly made whereby, in return for an annuity during the earl's life, his
lands were thereafter to pass to the Crown. The earl died in 1306 and the king
immediately took possession.
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
During the next six years. the castle was administered by royal constables, many
of whom acted through deputies. From 1308-1310 the constableship was held by
Hugh Despenser the younger, the accounts of whose representative, John de Tany,
combine with other records to suggest that despite all his costly works the earl
had left the castle in bad repair; no doubt it was the roofs that suffered most,
and the many oaks which de Tany is recorded to have cut down in Wentwood
probably went to their renewal. The springalds had also suffered; all had been
dismounted, and three which were in store are described as broken. In common
with many royal castles, Chepstow was used as a prison and a Scots knight, John
Lindsay, spent some years in captivity in it. In 1310 John Pateshulle took
charge as deputy to a constable who held the castle in the name of the king's
two brothers. He appears to have looted the buildings and to have absconded
about the end of the year 1312, at which time Chepstow was granted to the king's
brother, Thomas de Brotherton.
There is no evidence that Thomas de Brotherton regarded the castle and
lordship as anything more than a source of revenue, nor is there anything to
tell of its history until, in 1323, the younger Despenser bought the castle for
the term of his life. This was one of a series of transactions whereby he
obtained a group of powerful castles in South Wales and its eastern march,
probably with the idea of building up a centre of power to which he could retire
if his enemies in England became too strong for him. This eventually happened,
and in 1326 Despenser, with his father and the king, came to Chepstow, seemingly
intending to hold it in conjunction with Bristol. The king was at the castle in
October, but there was no spirit in his supporters and it was surrendered
without a siege. Despenser was put to death and Chepstow reverted to Thomas de
Brotherton.
Thomas died in 1338 and the castle, after being held successively by his
second wife Mary and his daughter Margaret, passed in 1399 to Margaret's
great-grandson Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. The castle has nothing to show
for three-quarters of a century of occupation by de Brotherton and his family
except perhaps two doorways inserted in the domestic block in the lower bailey.
The rising of Owain Glyn-Dwr in the following year once more revived Chepstow's
military importance, and in 1403 the castle was ordered to be garrisoned with 20
men-at-arms and 60 archers, twice the number ordered for Harlech and the same as
that for Denbigh. Consequently, while much of Monmouthshire, now Gwent, was
being ravaged and burned by the rebels, Chepstow, by its strength and
preparedness, was saved from attack.
Thomas Mowbray was executed for treason in 1405 and the castle remained in
the king's hands until its grant to Thomas's younger brother John in 1413. This
earl, and his son and grandson of the same name, held it until 1468, when an
exchange of lands gave Chepstow to William Herbert, lord of Raglan and Earl of
Pembroke, thus strengthening his military position and offsetting the great
power in the southern marches of the Earl of Warwick. In the following year the
matter was put to the test when the two lords Rivers took refuge from Warwick in
Chepstow Castle. Once again a siege seemed inevitable, but they were no more
popular than Despenser had been, and the garrison handed them over without
resistance. This year also saw the death of William Herbert and the succession
of his son, another William, who died possessed of the castle in 1491.
Tudor Period
The second William Herbert left as his heir a daughter Elizabeth, who was
married to Charles, the bastard son of Henry, Duke of Somerset. Charles was
created Earl of Worcester and founded a family who owned the castle until the
present century. After his death in 1526 it descended successively from father
to son, Henry dying in 1559, William in 1588 and Edward in 1627. The Worcesters'
principal seat was the magnificent castle of Raglan, but they lived at Chepstow
also, and the buildings show evidence of having been adapted for their
occupation. The alterations appear to have been carried out in two stages. First
a number of windows, whose lights have pointed and cusped heads set in square
frames, were inserted in various rooms in the lower bailey. Secondly, a
two-storey block of lodgings (now mostly destroyed) was erected on the east side
of the curtain between the lower and the middle bailey. This involved rebuilding
the upper part of the curtain and the remodelling of its towers. The
architectural features of this work, notably the shape of the windows, show it
to have been appreciably later than the first.
When Charles Somerset obtained the castle in 1491 it had stood unaltered for
nearly two hundred years. It therefore seems likely that it was he who took the
first step towards bringing the domestic accommodation up to date by inserting
larger windows, while the second work may be ascribed to his son Henry
(1526-49). Both were probably responsible for the insertion of additional
fireplaces in Marten’s Tower and elsewhere in the lower bailey. A building
against the south curtain, now only represented by foundations, may belong to
the same period.
On the outbreak of the second Civil War the castle was once more secured for
the king by Sir Nicholas Kemeys, and garrisoned with 120 men. Cromwell himself
called for its surrender, and on this being refused left a regiment to besiege
it while he marched westwards to Pembrokeshire (south-west Dyfed). Four guns
were put in battery against it and these first deprived the garrison of the use
of their doubt-less much lighter artillery by knocking the battlements off some
of the towers. A breach was then effected at a point generally assumed to have
been to the west of Marten's Tower, where the existing curtain is of later date.
But the curtain to the north-east of Marten's Tower has been extensively rebuilt
in its lower part and it is at least as likely that the breach was made here.
The morale of the garrison was low and, when Sir Nicholas refused to surrender
except on terms, his men began to run out through the breach to surrender
individually, whereupon an assault was ordered and the castle taken. Sir
Nicholas was killed; whether he died fighting alone in the breach, or was shot
out of hand after his capture, is uncertain.
Unlike the majority of English castles, Chepstow was neither slighted nor
allowed to fall into ruin after the defeat of the royal cause. In April 1648 the
de facto government, which had declared the lands of the Marquis of
Worcester forfeit, granted the castle to Cromwell, and after its recapture it
was repaired and garrisoned by a company of foot, remaining so garrisoned until
the Restoration in 1660. Charles II at once placed it in charge of Lord Herbert,
the son of the rightful owner. During the next few years the garrison was
regarded as vital to the maintenance of law and order in the district, and in
1661 there was even an alarm that the local anti-royalists were threatening the
castle; but nothing came of this, and in 1663 the garrison was reduced to a
half-company. The end came in 1690, when orders were given for the castle to be
dismantled and its guns shipped to Chester, but it seems that the half-company
had left already, doubtless during the disturbances at the end of the reign of
James II. During its period as a garrison the castle was used as a prison for
both political and military prisoners, of whom the most distinguished was the
royalist bishop Jeremy Taylor and the best known the regicide Henry Marten.
Marten spent his twenty years of comfortable captivity in Bigod's great tower,
which has thus assumed his name. Similarly the adjacent round tower is sometimes
known as Taylor's Dungeon.
The castle bears clear signs of having had its defences altered in the
seventeenth century; towers have had their medieval battlements replaced by
stronger parapets designed for use with guns, while for almost the whole of its
length the southern curtain has been thickened and its parapet loopholed for
musketry. By this time the old subdivisions of the defences had been abandoned,
and the allure from the Great Gatehouse to the Great Tower and from the other
side of the Great Tower to the upper gatehouse was made continuous by cutting
through the walls of the south-east tower of the middle bailey and the
south-west towers of the upper bailey and the barbican. The thickening of the
curtains required a great deal of stone, which probably accounts for the
destruction of the internal walls of the tower of the upper bailey and the Great
Gatehouse, the removal of much of the upper storey of the Great Tower, and the
disappearance of the Tudor buildings and the kitchen in the lower bailey.
It is tempting to regard these works as having been carried out by the
royalists during the Civil Wars, but they seem likely to be later. Many castles
were held for the king, yet although stone defences were built at some, as for
example, at Carew and Manorbier, there is nowhere any work comparable to what we
find at Chepstow. Further, it would not have been the simple task which it
proved to be during the second siege, to knock off the parapets of the towers as
they stand today, because they are the full thickness of the tower walls and a
platform of some sort for the guns must have been constructed behind them. They
have, in fact, been partially broken down, but this was most probably done in
1690 as a principal part of the "dismantling." The most likely time
for the changes to have been made is soon after the second siege, when it was
decided to maintain the castle as a garrison; and the expenditure of £300
recorded in 1650 may well supply the date. As late as 1662, however, Lord
Herbert spent £500 on repairs.
From the experiences of our own time we can well picture the state of the
domestic buildings in 1690 after half a century of military occupation, and we
shall not be surprised that no attempt was made to restore them as a family
residence. Instead the castle was thenceforward allowed to decay, although as
late as the beginning of the nineteenth century Marten's Tower was still roofed
and part of the castle inhabited. In 1682 Henry, Marquis of Worcester was
created Duke of Beaufort, and his successors continued to hold the castle until
its sale in 1914 to the late Mr W R Lysaght, who in the following year also
acquired the freehold rights in the town wall. In 1943 Mr Lysaght conveyed the
town wall to the Ministry of Public Building and Works (now the Department of
the Environment) by Deed of Gift for preservation in perpetuity under the
Ancient Monuments Acts, and in 1953 his son Mr D R Lysaght invested the then
Ministry with the permanent guardianship of the castle under the same
provisions.
