Chepstow

Aerial view (CADW)

Set in a beautiful landscape, the mighty fortress of Chepstow has guarded the route from England into South Wales for more than nine centuries. Its beginnings date from immediately after the Norman conquest, when the Conqueror's principal lieutenants William Fitz Osbern built the earliest surviving stone keep in Britain astride a narrow ridge high above the river Wye, that would be quite as home in the 11th century Normandy or on the Loire. Chepstow is unusual among British castles in that it was built largely of stone from the first with no primary timber phase.

The eastern front with the great  Norman tower.

The famous chivalric hero William Marshall added a bailey with new-style round towers in about 1200 and, during the following century, his sons and successors extended the fortress with state of the art walls, gatehouses and barbicans, until it covered the whole ridge from end to end. The hall complex, to the right of the entrance to the castle was built by Roger Bigod III and intended as accommodation for his large household and for guests. Bigod also added the powerful "D" Tower in the southwest corner of the curtain wall. So powerful was the result that Chepstow continued in use until 1690, being finally adapted for cannon and musketry after an epic Civil War siege.

Tintern Abbey, in the valley of Wye.

Scarcely a castle in Britain, therefore, illustrated the developing story of fortification better than Chepstow. As we explore the well preserved stronghold from its great gatehouse via its lower and middle baileys, great tower and upper bailey to its western barbican, we can trace the struggle of castle-builders to keep one jump ahead of new developments in siege craft. The more domestic side of Chepstow's story is displayed in the newly conserved 13th century hall and kitchen block, built by Master Ralf, the mason for the household of the overmentioned nobleman.

This huge, complex and grandiosely sited castle deserves a lengthy visit, and also the rest of the green Wye valley can show its medieval hidden treasures, first of all the marvelous Tintern Abbey.