Qualla: Raglan Castle

Raglan Castle: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Hchc2009, CC BY-SA 3.0. The 1639 inventory reads like a museum catalog: silver and gilt plate in the Great Tower, tapestries from Arras hanging on the walls, an ostrich egg cup, a silver basket for oranges and lemons. Raglan Castle was no bare-stone fortress. By the time the English Civil War arrived at its gates, it had spent two centuries evolving from a Welsh nobleman's stronghold into one of the most luxurious residences in the kingdom -- a castle whose gardens, contemporaries claimed, were the equal of any in England or Wales.

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Image: Hchc2009 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Raglan Castle: The Yellow Tower of Gwent

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 4.0. Raglan's most distinctive feature is its great hexagonal keep, known as the Great Tower or the Yellow Tower of Gwent. Sir William ap Thomas, the lesser son of a minor Welsh family who climbed the ranks of 15th-century politics, purchased the manor of Raglan in 1432 for 1,000 mark...

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Image: Nilfanion | CC BY-SA 4.0

Raglan Castle: Somersets and Silver Plate

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Augustus Pugin (1812-1852), Public domain. By 1492, through marriage, Raglan passed to the Somerset family, who would shape it for the next two centuries. The Somersets were politically astute -- Sir Charles Somerset served both Henry VII and Henry VIII and was made Earl of Worcester. Under their stewardship, Raglan gaine...

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Image: Augustus Pugin (1812-1852) | Public domain

Raglan Castle: The Last Royalist Stand

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit F-fff, CC BY-SA 4.0. When civil war engulfed England and Wales, Raglan became a Royalist garrison. Modern earthwork bastions were built, a powder mill established, and a force of 300 men raised at a cost of 40,000 pounds. Charles I himself visited twice -- once in June 1645 after his defeat at Naseby...

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Image: F-fff | CC BY-SA 4.0

Raglan Castle: The Grand Dilapidator

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Hchc2009, CC BY-SA 3.0. Fairfax ordered Raglan totally destroyed, but the fortifications proved too strong. Only a few walls were successfully slighted. The castle's library, containing an important collection of Welsh documents and books, was either stolen or destroyed -- a cultural loss that resonated...

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Image: Hchc2009 | CC BY-SA 3.0