Raglan Castle in Monmouthshire is a perfect example of what happened to
castles all over the country during the 16th and 17th centuries. In the
Tudor period, medieval castles were customised to make them even more luxurious
and comfortable. Then, in the 1640s, many were deliberately pulled down once the English Civil
War was over.
True castle or white elephant?
Raglan was begun in the 1440s, towards the end of the medieval period.
Even before the first stone was laid, it was something of a white elephant
because castles had been falling out of fashion for at least 100 years.
During times of peace, no sensible nobleman was going to waste time and
money building a castle when he could be investing in a more comfortable
courtyard house. So castles everywhere began to be abandoned, and by the
end of the 15th century a great many of them were in ruins.
Of course, certain people did stick it out in castles, largely for sentimental
reasons. This meant, however, that they had to make lots of home improvements.
The principal commodity that Tudor nobles wanted was light, and everywhere
you look inside Raglan Castle, you can see that massive new windows were
the order of the day. At the same time, Raglan gained a Long Gallery (a
room to entertain important guests) the very height of fashionable living
in the Tudor period.
Civil war arrives
On the eve of the Civil War, therefore, Raglan was one of the most impressive
and opulent places to live in the kingdom. Fortunately for its last resident,
the 70-year-old Marquis of Worcester, the alterations that had been made
to the castle over the years had not unduly compromised the original medieval
defences. In the summer of 1646, he and his family were able to remain
relatively safe and sound inside the castle during a two-month bombardment
by Parliament's troops. It was only the arrival of the parliamentary general
Sir Thomas Fairfax with six deadly mortar pieces that finally persuaded
the marquis to surrender.
Just six days after the conclusion of the siege, Parliament ordered that
Raglan should be demolished, and it earmarked the profits of destruction
as reward for its victorious army. The building was stripped of such material
wealth as could be easily removed but, even in defeat, the medieval masonry
proved too strong. Parliament had to content itself with 'slighting' (the
deliberate destruction of castles) and ruined the great tower by undermining
its walls. The rest of the castle became a quarry.
The castle today
Plans to rebuild it as a residence in the 19th century did not come to
fruition. Today, the castle is managed by CADW: Welsh Historic Monuments
and is open to the public.
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