Tregrug Castle | |
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Location | Llangybi, Monmouthshire |
Coordinates | 51°40′18.13728″N 02°55′13.70676″W / 51.6717048000°N 2.9204741000°W |
Governing body | Privately owned |
Official name | Llangybi Castle (Castell Tregrug) |
Reference no. | MM109 |
Official name | Tregrug Castle, Llangybi; Earthwork Castle, Llangibby Castle Mound |
Reference no. | MM110 |
Official name | Llangybi House |
Designated | 1 February 2022 |
Reference no. | PGW(Gt)27(Mon) |
Listing | Grade II |
Tregrug Castle (Welsh: Castell Tregrug; Welsh pronunciation: [ˈkastɛɬ trɛˈɡriːɡ]) or Llangibby Castle is a ruin in Monmouthshire, Wales, located about 1 mile (1.5 km) to the north of the village of Llangybi, close to the settlement of Tregrug.
The castle appears to have superseded an earlier Norman motte-and-bailey castle, which is first mentioned in records dating from 1262. Surrounded by dense woodland, on the top of a ridge, the present remains include a large, nearly rectangular walled enclosure, about 164 m (180 yards) by 78 m (85 yards), surrounded by ditches - the size of the bailey makes it the largest single-enclosure castle in England and Wales.[1] The bailey is entered through a gatehouse, to the left of which stands a large stone tower, known as the 'Lord's Tower'. Recent archaeological thinking suggests that the castle's main function may have been recreational rather than defensive; it was probably built as a hunting lodge, with accompanying gardens in the style of a late medieval ‘pleasance’. The castle had fallen into disuse by the 16th century but was refortified and garrisoned during the English Civil War. Slighted at the war's end, it was subsequently redeveloped as a landscape garden feature, to complement a new house, New Llangibby Castle, which was built in the grounds at the very end of the 17th century.