Visited April 2010

Location	Caerwent, Monmouthshire
Entrance Fee	No
Railway Station	Caldicot approx 2 1/2 miles
Parking	Yes
Facilities	Toilets, Picnic Tables
Map

Review

This is a large site, just outside Chepstow, Wales. It boasts some of the best preserved Roman fortifications in the country. There are two reasons why I have included these fortifications on this website. Firstly, the Latin word Castillum, which gave us our English word Castle means quite literally a fortified town, so in terms of definitions it could be argued that a castle is actually the same as a fortified settlement.

Secondly, for those not convinced by that argument, there is also on this site the remains of a Norman Castle. It was built around the 1070’s, so long after the Roman site had been abandoned, but the Normans were clearly ahead of their time in terms of eco-friendliness as they decided to recycle that which the previous generations had left behind, and constructed their motte on the edge of the Roman fortifications, incorporating the existing ditch as extra defence.

Today the castle is completely gone (the original wooden castle was probably not re-built in stone) but the motte is in good shape and is freely accessible. It is a fine example to demonstrate to  children exactly what a motte is, as they can clearly see the structure, not to mention climb up it.

The whole site is very interesting and impressive, it is open access so has no entrance fee , there is a large car park with a clean toilet block. The village of Caerwent has several pubs, at least one we noticed a had children’s play area in the beer garden, but we chose to bring our own picnic as the views were so amazing that we wanted to sit among the ruins to eat our lunch.

The local Post Office is the place to buy a guide book, and the staff there were very friendly and helpful. The site was very quiet, not many visitors on the day we went, but somehow it made it a better experience not to have masses of other tourists around. If you want fresh air, views and not getting nagged for spends in the gift shop then this is definitely the site for you.

More info:  CADW Caerwent