Penhow Castle

The manor of Penhow was held by Caradog ap Gruffydd, prince of Gwent at the time of the Norman invasion of Wales.[1] The estate was seized by the Seymour family (anciently de St. Maur) and by 1129, Sir Roger de St Maur had built a fortified manor at the site. The house was extended and further fortified in the 15th and 17th centuries.[1] In the 16th century the manor passed to the Somersets. In 1674, it was purchased by the Lewis family of St Pierre.[2] Viscount Rhondda, an industrialist and conservator of ancient buildings in Wales, bought the castle in 1914.[3] By the mid-20th century, the castle was in a state of some dilapidation, until bought and restored by the film director Stephen Weeks.[4] During his tenure the castle was open to the public, while also serving as Weeks’ residence. In 2002 it was sold and reverted to a private home.[5] Penhow is frequently claimed to be the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Wales.[lower-alpha 1][7][4]

The architectural historian John Newman, in his Gwent/Monmouthshire Pevsner, describes Penhow as "small and [un]convincingly defensive".[8] It is constructed of local Old red sandstone rubble.[1] The oldest portion of the castle is the west tower, which dates from the time of the Seymours. The two-storeyed hall range is later, of the 14th-15th centuries.[8] Further large-scale remodelling took place in the 17th and 18th centuries, when the castle was refashioned as a comfortable country house. The Cadw listing records notes the "exceptionally fine Restoration period interiors”. The castle is listed Grade II*.[1]

Two ranges of ancillary buildings contain some important agricultural structures, each with their own listings; the grouping immediately to the south-west of the castle includes a barn[9] and a byre.[10] The grouping farther from the castle to the south includes another barn,[11] a further byre[12] and a stable block.[13]

• Newman, John (1995). Glamorgan. The Buildings of Wales. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 9780140710564. OCLC 231881843.
• — (2000). Gwent/Monmouthshire. The Buildings of Wales. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-071053-1.