Ruperra Castle / July 09

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Ruperra Castle was built in 1626 by Sir Thomas Morgan, who was knighted by King James 1st. It was a typical Jacobean courtier’s house, an example of the ‘Great Rebuilding’ of the 16th and 17th Centuries. King Charles 1st stayed there in 1645 raising support after the Battle of Naseby. A deer park was recorded in 1684 when the Duke of Beaufort feasted there and there were viewing points through the trees and beautiful grassed rides up to the summer house where the family took tea at this time. After being destroyed by fire in 1785 the castle was rebuilt and the original gables replaced by battlements. In 1875 Captain Godfrey Charles Morgan, of the Charge of the Light Brigade fame became Lord Tredegar and during the 19th Century the eldest son of the Tredegar family lived at Ruperra which saw its heyday as a great Victorian country estate with historic gardens and parklands. In the 1920s many repairs were done but then Tredegar fortunes declined.

With the outbreak of World War Two, Ruperra Castle was requisitioned and from 1939 to 1946 a succession of Royal Army regiments, Signals, Mobile Bakery, Searchlights, Medical Corps, Indians, Dutchmen, were sent to Ruperra to be trained and moved on. At the end came German prisoners of war.

On December 6th 1941 when a British regiment of Searchlights were there, a large fire broke out in the castle caused by faulty electric wiring. Flames were visible for miles around but in spite of the number of fire engines attending, the castle was gutted by the fire.

In 1956, the whole of the Tredegar estates of 53 000 acres were sold off, including the now ruined castle of Ruperra. The castle has remained in private ownership since then. However nothing has been done to stop its continued deterioration. As a result, in 1982, the south-eastern tower collapsed. There are large cracks in the other three.

www.castlewales.com/ruperra.html
www.ruperratrust.co.uk/html/castle_history.html

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Copyright www.prinsesirenebrigade.nl - Ruperra Castle just before the fire that destroyed it in 1941.

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Fantastic looking place...am going to investigate this more..lovely shots except for tarted up exterior shot..didnt need it as the subject is beautiful enuff.
 
Fabulous place with loads to see, by the look of it. Interesting history, too.
Love the ornamental pond lurking amongst the overgrown lawn/beds. Just the kind of place I'd fall in! :mrgreen:
Excellent find and pics, VVV. :)
 
..lovely shots except for tarted up exterior shot..didnt need it as the subject is beautiful enuff.

Didn't really want to do a HDR but I couldn't get the exposure right. The buildings were far too dark when the sky was correctly exposed. Hence the pseudo HDR from a single raw file.

Location.

Thanks for the comments.
 
Hey I aint bothered,the pics are great anyhow..thanx for a great new subject,at least for me.
 
Your a bit quick off the mark with the car make there James :lol:

That looks like a great building, I take it something is happeneing with it? Or are they just gonna leave it? Seems a waste if you ask me.

There must have been some large cellars to this place somewhere, I didnt see any pics either :(
 
oh wow, i've been wanting to go here for the last couple of years. have since moved away from Caerphilly [though, not that far], so have put it off. i heard the castle was on private land wth people still living at the house there? i also heard they're not very friendly, which is another reason i'd put a visit off!
 

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