Caldicot Castle

Caldicot Castle stands in the small town of Caldicot in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. Built near the site of an earlier Saxon castle owned by Harold Godwinson, it began as a simple motte-and-bailey in the 12th century. The Normans replaced it with a stone keep and curtain walls around 1170 under Humphrey III de Bohun. Later, Thomas of Woodstock, son of Edward III, enlarged the castle with a gatehouse, drawbridge and private chambers. The Bohun family held the castle for over two centuries before it passed to the Crown. The castle’s history reflects major shifts in power. After Thomas of Woodstock’s murder in 1397, it became part of the Duchy of Lancaster. Henry V later inherited it through his mother Mary de Bohun. The Herbert and Somerset families managed the estate in the 15th and 16th centuries. By the 19th century, neglect had reduced it to farm buildings until Joseph Richard Cobb began its restoration in 1885. Today, visitors find a restored medieval castle with furnished apartments in three towers and parts of the gatehouse. The Woodstock Tower and gatehouse remain key features, along with carved stones bearing the names of Thomas and Alianore. The Cobb family added rooms decorated with relics from HMS Foudroyant. A small museum and medieval-style banquets welcome guests in the restored grounds.