Raglan Castle () is a late medieval castle located just north of the village of Raglan in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales. The modern castle dates from between the 15th and early 17th centuries, when the successive ruling families of the Herberts and the Somersets created a luxurious, fortified castle, complete with a large hexagonal keep, known as the Great Tower or the Yellow Tower of Gwent. Surrounded by parkland, water gardens and terraces, the castle was considered by contemporaries to be the equal of any other in England or Wales.
During the First English Civil War, Raglan was occupied by a Royalist garrison on behalf of Charles I but was taken by Parliamentarian forces in 1646 and its walls slighted, or deliberately put beyond military use. After the Stuart Restoration in 1660, the Somersets declined to restore it and it became first a source of local building materials, then a romantic ruin. It is now a tourist attraction.
History
Early history of the castle
Following the Norman invasion of Wales, the area around the village of Raglan was granted to William FitzOsbern, the Earl of Hereford. Some historians, such as John Kenyon, suspect that an early motte and bailey castle may have been built on the Raglan site during this period: the location had strategic importance and archaeologists have discovered the remains of a possible bailey ditch on the site. By the late medieval period the Raglan site was surrounded by the large deer parks of Home Park and Red Deer Park, the latter being enclosed at the end of the period.
15th to 16th centuries
thumb|left|upright=1.0|Reconstruction of Raglan Castle around 1620
The current Raglan Castle was begun by Sir William ap Thomas, the lesser son of a minor Welsh family who rose through the ranks of mid-15th century politics, profiting from the benefits of the local offices he held. William married first Elizabeth, a wealthy heiress, and then Gwladus, another heiress who would prove to be a powerful regional figure in her own right. In 1432, Sir William purchased the manor of Raglan, where he had already been staying as a tenant, for 1,000 marks (£666 13s 4d) and commenced a programme of building work that established the basic shape of the castle as seen today, although most of it—with the exception of the South Gate and the Great Tower—was later built over.
Sir William's son dropped the Welsh version of his name, calling himself William Herbert. He was also closely associated with Welsh politics and status; he was the first Welshman to be made an earl and was described by contemporary poets as the "national deliverer" who might achieve Welsh independence. In the 1460s William used his increasing wealth to remodel Raglan on a much grander scale. The symbolism of the castle architecture may have reflected the Welsh family roots: historian Matthew Johnson has suggested that the polygonal towers were possibly designed to imitate those of Caernarfon Castle, whose architecture carries numerous allusions to the eventual return of a Roman Emperor to Wales. Historian Anthony Emery has described the resulting castle as one of the "last formidable displays of medieval defensive architecture".
There was an important link between Raglan Castle and the surrounding parkland, in particular the Home Park and the Red Deer Park. In the 15th century there were also extensive orchards and fish ponds surrounding the castle, favourably commented upon by contemporaries. By 1492, the castle passed to Elizabeth Somerset, William Herbert's daughter, who married Sir Charles Somerset, passing the castle into a new family line.
Sir Charles Somerset was politically successful under both Henry VII and Henry VIII, being made the Earl of Worcester. The Somerset family owned two key castles in the region, Raglan and Chepstow, and these appeared to have figured prominently as important status symbols in paintings owned by the family.
17th century
thumb|left|upright=1.0|Aerial photograph, showing the defences constructed during the [[First English Civil War; red and blue triangles represent the location of Parliamentarian and Royalist earthwork bastions; A and B indicate the locations of the Parliamentary and Royalist artillery batteries.]]
Edward Somerset made minor improvements to the interior of the castle at the start of the 17th century, but focused primarily on the exterior, expanding and developing the gardens and building the moat walk around the Great Tower. The resulting gardens were considered the equal of any others in the kingdom at the time.
Upon inheriting Raglan in 1628, Henry Somerset, then the 5th Earl of Worcester, continued to live a grand lifestyle in the castle in the 1630s, with a host of staff, including a steward, Master of Horse, Master of Fishponds, surveyors, auditors, ushers, a falconer and many footmen. The interior walls were hung with rich tapestries from Arras in France, while an inventory taken in 1639 recorded a large number of silver and gilt plate kept in the Great Tower, including an ostrich egg cup, and a silver basket for oranges and lemons, then luxury items in Wales. Mead was a popular drink in the castle, but contemporaries described the castle as being a particular sober and respectful community. Henry developed the entrance route to the castle, including building the Red Gate. The defences of Raglan were improved after this, with modern earthwork bastions built around the castle and a powder mill created; a garrison of around 300 men was established at a cost of £40,000. Heavier cannon were installed in the bastions, with lighter pieces placed in the castle towers.
Lord Herbert left the castle to join the campaign against Parliament, returning at intervals to acquire more funds for the war. Charles I himself visited the castle twice, first in June 1645 after the battle of Naseby and again in 1646, when he enjoyed playing bowls on the castle's green. The Royalist cause was now close to military collapse, and the Marquess started to send some valuables, including the oak panelling from the parlour, some plaster ceiling and many pictures, to his brother at nearby Troy House for safe-keeping. Lord Herbert was captured in Ireland, and an attack on Raglan itself appeared imminent. Large amounts of food were brought in to support the growing castle community, which also included a number of the wider Herbert family and other regional Royalist leaders who had sought shelter there. The first Parliamentary army arrived in early June, under the command of Colonel Morgan and Sir Trevor Williams. After several calls for the castle to surrender, a siege ensued, lasting through the summer months. Fairfax's men began to dig trenches towards the castle, and used these to move mortars forward, probably including the famous "Roaring Meg", bringing the interior of the castle into artillery range.
thumb|The buttress in the Pitched Stone Court was damaged during the slighting of the castle. Archaeologist Lila Rakoczy suggested that the depth of the stone being removed indicates that a statue or decorative form of stone was originally present, and the removal of high-status and visually prominent material would have been a symbolic act.
Fairfax ordered the castle to be totally destroyed under the supervision of Henry Herbert, a descendant of William ap Thomas. The fortifications proved too strong, however, and only a few of the walls were destroyed, or slighted. The castle's library, including an important collection of Welsh documents and books, was either stolen or destroyed. Henry Somerset, the 3rd Marquess, decided to prioritise the rebuilding of his other houses at Troy and Badminton, rather than Raglan, reusing some of the property sent away for safety before the war, or salvaged after the slighting. One particular estate surveyor called Hopkins became known as the "Grand Dilapidator", due to the number of chimneys, window frames and staircases he had removed from the castle. Henry Somerset, the 5th Duke, finally put an end to this practice in 1756, and the castle became a tourist attraction, part of the popular Wye Tour. The Monmouthshire antiquarian Joseph Bradney recorded a visit to the castle by Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, then Prince and Princess of Wales, in October 1881. 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. Between 2003 and 2007 Cambrian Archaeological Projects led excavations at the castle in advance of a planned new visitor centre. Since 2024, Cadw are to standardise the name in both languages, to use the Welsh name in English. Like similar properties of the period, the castle of the 1460s was almost certainly designed to be approached and entered in a particular way, maximising the aesthetic and political value of the fortification. At Raglan, the design highlighted the Great Tower: a typical senior visitor would ride through Raglan village, and first the tower and then the rest of the castle would appear suddenly over the slight rise on the hill. Only then would a privileged guest be able to enter the Great Tower itself, overlooking the Herbert family's own chambers.