One of the oldest stone castles in Britain, strung out along a clifftop above the River Wye at the Welsh border
Open to visitorsa Cadw site — check opening times and admission before you go
Substantial ruinsruined, but plenty survives above ground
Building in stone began here in 1067, barely a year after the Norman conquest, which makes Chepstow Castle one of the oldest surviving stone castles in Britain. William FitzOsbern, one of William the Conqueror’s closest men, raised the first Great Tower on a narrow ridge of rock straight above the River Wye, where the cliff itself does the work of a wall on the river side. Later lords stretched the castle out along the whole spine of the ridge over the next few centuries, so it reads as a run of linked courtyards and towers rather than one compact block — the powerful Marshal family, William Marshal among them, did much of that work around 1200. Hanging in one of the gatehouses are wooden doors dated to the late 12th century, reckoned to be the oldest castle doors in Europe. It later held prisoners after the Civil War before falling out of use. Cadw looks after the ruin today. It sits at the very edge of the Wye Valley, with Chepstow at its gates and the Offa’s Dyke Path starting close by, so it’s easy to fit into a day along the river.
