About

Chepstow Castle stands on the bank of the river Wye with stunning views across the valley. You'll find lots of information as you explore the different aspects, kitchen, cellar, towers and walls. Beautifully preserved, the castle stretches out along a limestone cliff above the River Wye like a history lesson in stone. There’s no better place in Britain to see how castles gradually evolved to cope with ever more destructive weaponry

Building on the site was started in 1067 by Earl William fitz Osbern, close friend of William the Conqueror, making it one of the first Norman strongholds in Wales.  In turn William Marshal (Earl of Pembroke), Roger Bigod (Earl of Norfolk) and Charles Somerset (Earl of Worcester) all made their mark before the castle declined after the Civil War.

For more than six centuries Chepstow was home to some of the wealthiest and most powerful men of the medieval and Tudor ages. The great tower of Chepstow castle was built by William Fitzosbern around 1071. From 1190 onward William Marshall built the gatehouse, the curtain wall with its towers and the Marshall tower. Between 1219 and 1245 his sons remodelled the great tower and added the upper barbican.

Between 1271 and 1304 Roger Bigod built a new suite of private apartments on the cliff side of the lower court. Martin’s tower was constructed at this time as accommodation for royal guests. The great tower is once again remodeled and completed by a gallery.

In 1660, Charles II lowered and thickened the curtain wall of middle and upper bailey and the curtain wall of the lower bailey was rebuilt. Several towers were filled in with earth and cannon platforms constructed above the gatehouse and the corner tower of the middle bailey. In 1685 the garrison is disbanded and parts of the castle are demolished.