When the four of us walked across the drawbridge over the moat at Raglan Castle it was easy to imagine the circumstances under which they needed to close off the castle.

From this site:
Fascinating Fact of the Day about Raglan, Wales:
By 1632, a Court House was established in Raglan. “The jury to meet at the Court House at Ragland the 25th March next by ten of the clock under peyn of xls. apeece* (see below) to have a view and inquire of lands in Landenny (Llandenny) and Ragland late of Philip David Morris”, (Dec. 1632). Subsequent leet courts refer to the liberty of Raglan and in 1682 the hundred of Ragland is mentioned. Court Roll excerpts reflect the issues of the day: In 1680, ‘The bridge called Pontleecke upon the highway leading from Raglan towards Chepstow to be out of repair. Moses Morgan fined for not spending 14s of the parish money towards repairing the stocks and whipping post in the parish of Raglan’. In 1695 the repair of bridges is still under discussion, ‘The bridge called Pont y bonehouse in the town of Raglan, 1695. John Curre, gent., steward’.

There is no longer a direct train service to the village, the local railway station having closed in 1955. The railway station buildings have been removed to St Fagans. The village continued to be an important thoroughfare in the 18th and 19th centuries, which explains its three substantial coaching inns the Beaufort Arms, the Ship and the Crown where the mail coaches would stop.

The doorways in Raglan Castle have interesting designs.

Intricate patterns carved in stone remain yet today.

I could kick myself for failing to take any photos. The conversation was so wonderfully entertaining, it totally slipped my mind.  We had another fine meal in this highly rated bistro/pub and the hours slipped by.


Finally, it was time to say goodbye.  We each had a long drive ahead of us in the dark.  It was the first time we drove from Chepstow to Shirenewton in the dark but by this time, Tom had the route figured out, and we got back to our holiday home in no time.

The lush green countryside that surrounds the castle is breathtaking, even today with the addition of farms and homes.

Once back in the house, we settled in for a quiet remainder of the night and before too long we were off to bed.  I had a fitful night, tossing and turning, sleeping only for short periods with lots of dreams.

Window panes such as these were an integral part of the original design.

With my phone not working I used Tom’s phone to play solitaire in-between the equivalent of “naps.” It’s so boring I often fall back to sleep before too long but last night was an exception.  Overall, I don’t think I slept more than four hours.

Tom seated on the king’s throne.

You know how it is…we can easily start overthinking during the night to send ourselves into a flurry of worry and doubt.  Although generally speaking, I am not a worrier (Tom handles that for me).  But last night after two glasses of white wine at dinner, my mind was racing.  


I think I should go back to red wine on the upcoming cruise which doesn’t seem to have an effect on my quality of sleep.  On cruises, I usually have a few glasses of red wine early in the evening (at happy hour) and then switch to mineral water for the remainder of the evening.  This avoids any unpleasant after-effects.

A tucked-away toilet (referred to as a “loo” in the UK).

The cardiologist in South Africa recommended drinking only red wine (in moderation, of course) which seems to have a good effect on the heart.  I didn’t drink any alcohol for over 20 years and started drinking red wine a few years ago on cruises.


While we’ve been “at home” in the UK, these past two months, we’ve had no alcohol whatsoever.  It was only this week when out to dine with Linda and Ken and then again last night, that I tried some white wine.  No more of that for me.

More intricate stone carvings remain among the ruins.

Today, we’re washing our final loads of laundry hoping everything will dry indoors on the drying rack.  Some items seem to take three days to dry so we may be pushing it when we’re leaving on Tuesday to drive to Southampton for a two-night hotel stay and again dinner with friends we made who’ve been reading our posts for years.

“A prie-dieu (French: literally, “pray [to] God”, invariable in the plural) is a type of prayer desk primarily intended for private devotional use, but may also be found in churches. It is a small, ornamental wooden desk furnished with a thin, sloping shelf for books or hands and a kneeler.”

At noon, we’re heading back to The Boat Inn for our final meal out in Chepstow.  We made a reservation for the “Sunday roast,” a popular tradition in the UK when one may choose to order beef, pork or lamb.  Tom usually chooses the beef while I go for the lamb.  We’ll take photos to share in tomorrow’s post.

Curved window panes.

Below is the last of the information we’re posting on Raglan Castle where once again, we had a memorable experience with Linda and Ken after touring two castles this past week.


From this site:

“Despite Tudor and Jacobean rebuilding the Raglan Castle we see today is largely the work of one hugely ambitious man – Sir William Herbert.


In less than 10 years this country squire turned himself into arguably the most powerful Welshman of the age. He began his dazzling career fighting in France, where he was captured and ransomed and was knighted in 1452.


Having grown rich by importing Gascony wine, Herbert was made sheriff of Glamorgan and constable of Usk Castle. He played a crucial role in a decisive defeat of Lancastrian forces during the Wars of the Roses in 1461.”

These three windows indicate three levels from which the floors eventually  wore away.

“The grateful new king Edward IV rewarded Herbert by making him chief justice and chamberlain of South Wales – and grandly styling him Baron Herbert of Raglan. Underlining this meteoric rise young Henry Tudor, the future King Henry VII was sent to Sir William to be brought up at Raglan Castle.

Poet Dafydd Llwyd praised his incredible fortress-palace with its ‘hundred rooms filled with festive fare, its hundred chimneys for men of high degree’.”

Tom standing in the fireplace in the massive kitchen often used to prepare meals for 100’s of guests.

“Herbert’s final accolade was the most remarkable of all. In 1468 he was created Earl of Pembroke as a reward for his capture of Harlech Castle, the last Lancastrian stronghold in England and Wales. It made him the first member of the Welsh gentry to enter the ranks of the English peerage.

He didn’t enjoy this prestige for long. Herbert was defeated and captured at the battle of Edgecote in 1469 – and brutally beheaded the very next day. The reported death of 5,000 men, mostly Welshmen, in his army makes it one of Wales’s greatest losses in battle.

The body of the ambitious earl was brought back to southeast Wales and buried in the Cistercian abbey church at Tintern. It was left to the Somersets, earls of Worcester, to usher in the glories of the Tudor age at Raglan.”

Have a superb Sunday!  Go Vikings!

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Photo from one year ago today, October 20, 2018:

A group of cape buffalo may be called an “obstinacy.”  For more photos from the “Ridiculous Nine,” please click here.

Ken set up our camera timers for this photo.

Fascinating Fact of the Day about Raglan WalesFrom this site:
“Raglan (Welsh: Rhaglan) is a village and community in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales, United Kingdom. It is located some 9 miles south-west of Monmouth, midway between Monmouth and Abergavenny on the A40 road very near to the junction with the A449 road. The fame of the village derives from its castle, Raglan Castle, built for William ap Thomas and now maintained by Cadw.

The village stands at the crossing point of two Roman roads, that from Gloucester to Usk, and that from Chepstow to Abergavenny.[2] The origins of the village are unknown but Raglan was first mentioned in the will of Walter de Clare.

The earliest market in Raglan was recorded in 1354. The market cross in the town, which stands in the centre of the crossroads between the church and the Beaufort Arms Inn, consists now only of a massive base on which has been mounted a lamp post. In the large space around this stone, the markets were held, the base of the cross forming the table on which bargains were struck.

The agricultural roots of Raglan are illustrated by a 1397 account between the ‘reevem’ or reeve Ieuan Hire and Ieuan ap Grono and haywards (hedge wardens) Iorwerth ap Gwillym and Hoe ap Gwillym Goch.

The earliest records of the manor of Raglan Court are found on 26 October – 28 July 1391 during the reign of Richard II. At this time Raglan Castle was probably no more than a hill fort. After 1415 Raglan Castle was greatly expanded.

Records from 1587 refer to Raglan as a town. For the court, 13 July 1587, the marginal heading reads Burgus de Ragland cum Curia Manerii de Ragland cum membris and the caption becomes ‘The Court of William Somerset, 3rd Earl of Worcester of his said borough and the Court of the said Earl of his said manor with members’. From 1 June 1587 onwards, most courts refer to the Borough of Ragland in the following manner: ‘The Court of the said manor with the Court of the borough or the town of Ragland’.”

Raglan Castle in Raglan Wales is quite impressive.  See the information below for details.

When we embarked on the drive to Raglan Castle, located in the village of Raglan, we were concerned, once again, that roads wouldn’t be marked and it would be easy to get lost. 

Raglan Castle wasn’t as restored as Chepstow Castle but had many fascinating features.

A GPS signal isn’t available in most of the countryside but, of course, we saved the directions off-line, as we have all along, hoping it would be helpful.  This time we arrived at our destination without incident but we wondered why it’s been so difficult in the past.

The moat surrounding the castle is a stunning feature.

Touring the two castles, both Chepstow and Raglan Castle with Linda and Ken made the experience all the more interesting. With our collective varying perceptions, the conversation flowed as we toured each castle, often pointing our great photos ops to one another.

The Moat Walk at Raglan Castle runs around its outer edge and is thought to have been added around 1600 by the fourth Earl of Worcester.

Linda and Ken seemed more enthralled with Raglan Castle but we couldn’t decide between the two.  Each has its own special features and unique persona.  In both cases, our imaginations went wild as we toured each of the ruins.

A grand view of the moat surrounding Raglan Castle.

After our lengthy tour of Raglan Castle, which took much longer due to its massive size we headed to lunch at the Cripple Creek Pub & Restaurant where we had a lovely lunch although not quite as spectacular as the prior day at The Boat Inn in Chepstow along the River Wye.

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. Today, the castle is classed as a Grade I listed building and as a Scheduled Monument, administered by Cadw.

As a matter of fact, tonight, we’ll be meeting longtime friends/readers Liz and Dave at The Boat Inn for dinner (referred to as supper in this part of the world).  We’re so looking forward to them and…dining in that fantastic restaurant once again.

Tom took a rest on this two-wheeled cart.

For the information we gathered about Raglan Castle please see below.  Tomorrow, we’ll add additional information as we wrap up the two-day post.

From this site:
“The Welsh fortress-palace was transformed into a regal residence. The unmistakable silhouette of Raglan crowning a ridge amid glorious countryside is the grandest castle ever built by Welshmen.

We can thank Sir William ap Thomas, the ‘blue knight of Gwent’, for the moated Great Tower of 1435 that still dominates this mighty fortress-palace. His son Sir William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, created the gatehouse with its flared ‘machicolations’.”

Raglan Castle was at least twice the size of Chepstow Castle which we shared in the past two day’s posts.

“These stone arches allowed missiles to be rained down on attackers. But Raglan came 150 years later than the turbulent heyday of castle-building. It was designed to impress as much as to intimidate.

Under various earls of Worcester Raglan was transformed into a magnificent country seat with a fashionable long gallery and one of the finest Renaissance gardens in Britain. But loyalty to the crown was to prove its undoing.”

Note this window’s scalloped edge.

“Despite a garrison of 800 men and one of the longest sieges of the Civil War, it fell to parliamentary forces and was deliberately destroyed. Among the looted treasures was a piece of Tudor wooden panelling, now proudly displayed in the visitor centre after being rescued from a cow shed in the 1950s.

Despite Tudor and Jacobean rebuilding the Raglan Castle we see today is largely the work of one hugely ambitious man – Sir William Herbert.

In less than 10 years this country squire turned himself into arguably the most powerful Welshman of the age. He began his dazzling career fighting in France, where he was captured and ransomed, and was knighted in 1452.”

As the moat wraps around the spectacular castle.

“Having grown rich by importing Gascony wine, Herbert was made sheriff of Glamorgan and constable of Usk Castle. He played a crucial role in a decisive defeat of Lancastrian forces during the Wars of the Roses in 1461.

The grateful new king Edward IV rewarded Herbert by making him chief justice and chamberlain of south Wales – and grandly styling him Baron Herbert of Raglan. Underlining this meteoric rise young Henry Tudor, the future King Henry VII was sent to Sir William to be brought up at Raglan Castle.”

Today, the sun is shining and we plan to take a walk in the neighborhood. There’s a beautiful church nearby which we’d only seen from the car in the pouring rain.  

That’s all folks.  We’ll see you again tomorrow with new photos and Raglan Castle facts.  Please check back.

Be well.

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Photo from one year ago today, October 19, 2018:

“Leopards are the least social – and perhaps the most beautiful – of the African big cats. They usually keep to themselves, lurking in the dense riverine bush or around rocky koppies, emerging to hunt late in the afternoon or at night.”  For more photos please click here.