Caldicot Castle

Caldicot Castle

This castle is built almost entirely of local rubble stone faced with squared blocks of local gritstone. The late 19th century work used very closely matched stone with some red brick and pseudo timber framing in those additions to the Great Gatehouse which formed J R Cobb's own house. The house parts are roofed in red tiles while the towers are roofed in lead.

The plan of the castle is a rectangle-to-oval circuit of walls around the bailey with the Great Gatehouse in the centre of the south wall and the motte and its crowning keep in the north west corner. Clockwise from the main entrance, the arrangement is: Great Gatehouse, South West Tower, de Bohun Gateway, Keep, Woodstock Tower, South East Tower, Great Hall and Private Apartments, returning to the entrance.

Outer elevations:

The Great Gatehouse is externally very largely of the late 19th to early 20th century and is complete as rebuilt by J R Cobb. It has a central projecting section of two tall storeys over a battered base. The central entrance arch features an oak drawbridge flanked by two lancets on either side. The first floor has three larger windows in projecting frames and two rows of small square lights. A battlemented parapet rises above. Three storey towers flank this section, each storey with one window; the towers rise to machicolated and castellated parapets, all complete. The curtain is complete to the wallwalk, but without castellations.

The South West Tower is a drum with battered base. It is complete apart from some damage to the parapets. The curtain was undergoing repair at the time of inspection. It is largely complete to the wallwalk, but without castellations.

The de Bohun Gateway, or West Postern Tower, is complete to the parapet and has the unusual feature of an arched gateway to the outside, similar to one at Pembroke Castle. The curtain is complete to the wallwalk, which rises up the side of the motte, but without castellations.

The Keep is a large circular tower of three storeys with an attached D-shaped tower on the outside which contains garderobe shafts and rises to provide a look-out tower. The keep is complete nearly to the roof, but the top floor is half gone and all castellations are missing. The curtain is complete to the wallwalk, but without castellations except for a few surviving by the keep.

The Woodstock Tower was fully restored by J R Cobb and was converted to a house. It is a square three storey tower over a basement gateway, but the corners are chamfered off on the outer face with broach stops. The main face has a pointed arch gateway, a square window above and a smaller rectangular window above this. The tower top has a machicolated and castellated parapet, all complete. The arch of the postern is said to be inscribed for Thomas of Woodstock, son of Edward III. The curtain is complete to the wallwalk, but without castellations in the first section. It then has several windows into now vanished buildings and a major breach on the east side of the castle.

The South East Tower is largely complete externally including castellations. It is a semi-circular tower with a battered base. The curtain is complete to the wallwalk, but without most castellations. The first section is pierced by the first floor windows to the Great Hall, with three large 2-light windows of the mid-14th century with mullion-and-transom and cusped heads. Some castellations remain on this section of the wall. The final section of curtain before the Great Gatehouse has windows for the private apartments on two floors, including another 2-light mullion-and-transom one on the upper floor.

Elevations to the bailey:

The interior of the Great Gatehouse is two storeyed in stone, with a recessed central archway flanked by two 8-pane windows on either side in projecting frames. Four more windows occupy the floor above; the parapet rises into two tall stone chimneys. The house rises on either side of the upper floor and behind the parapet into an attic with gabled roof behind. All this dates to the 1890s, as does most of the stonework. The taller flanking towers of the gatehouse rise at the back. The house is in red brick with pseudo timber framing and timber mullioned windows. A stairway rises on the right hand side to the Great Hall, and the entrance to the private apartments is in the building on the left. The curtain is complete to the wallwalk with a restored staircase.

The South West Tower was roofed and given rooms circa 1890. It has a 3-light oriel window on the first floor. The curtain is complete to the wallwalk.

The Keep is complete apart from the top storey. It has a first floor entry and a roof of circa 1890. The curtain is complete to the wallwalk.

The Woodstock Tower has a basement archway, a first floor entrance, several small windows and a castellated parapet with chimneys disguised as a corner turret. The curtain is complete to the wallwalk but includes two fireplaces to now demolished lean-to buildings. There is a large breach in the wall on the east side.

The South East Tower has an inserted modern floor, but is roofless.

The curtain has the remnants of the hall undercroft and the interior faces of the Great Hall windows. The private apartments are a two storey gabled house of the 1890s in red brick with pseudo timber framing and tiled roofs. A modern gabled projection occupies the ground floor, with a 5-light canted oriel on the upper floor and a roof with half hip.

The bailey garden contains a well with dwarf stone wall surround and a large iron naval cannon from HMS Foudroyant.

Interior:

The gateway and house interiors are almost all of the 1890s but in medieval character. There is a rebuilt Great Hall in the Great Gatehouse at first floor level. The South West Tower has two restored rooms. The Keep has three restored floors with rooms fitted with fireplaces and window embrasures. The basement is stone vaulted and little changed from the medieval period. The Woodstock Tower has a domestic interior part medieval and part 1920s, including an unusual tiled bathroom. The surviving interiors of J R Cobb's house were not inspected at the time of resurvey.