Historical Attractions in and around the Brecon Beacons

Abergavenny Castle is located just a short walk from the main shopping area of Abergavenny. Enough of the castle remains to indicate that it must have been a fairly formidable fortress. The castle has Norman origins: the motte was built by Hamelin de Ballon, the Norman conqueror of this area in 1090. Soon after a stone keep was built on the motte and the present Victorian 'keep' probably stands on its foundations. In 1175 Abergavenny Castle was the scene of an infamous act: the Massacre of Abergavenny.  Henry, the third son of Milo Fitzwalter was killed by Seisyll ap Dynfnwal in 1175. As there were no other other male heir, the castle and Brecknockshire and Upper Gwent passed to his mother Bertha who was a daughter of Milo Fitzwalter.  William de Braose decided to avenge the death of his uncle Henry. He summoned Seisyll ap Dyfnwal, his son Geoffrey and a number of other local Welshmen from Gwent to Abergavenny Castle for a reconciliation meeting. They were all murdered and their lands were taken. Control of the castle passed back and forth during the turbulent years as the Welsh Marches changed hands in the twelfth century between the English and Welsh forces. During the thirteenth and fourteeth centuries a huge amount building work was undertaken on the castle whilst it was in the hands of the Hastings family. The most prominent features that remain from this period are the towers in the western corner of the castle.

The keep along with most of the other castle buildings, was destroyed in the Civil War, between 1645 - 1646. In 1818, the present building - now the Museum - was constructed on top of the motte as a hunting lodge for the Marquess of Abergavenny.

Brecknock Museum & Art Gallery, funded and administered by Powys County Council, is one of the finest and liveliest small museums in Wales.

First established in 1928 by the Brecknock Society, it occupies an historic building at the heart of an outstandingly attractive area with a rich and varied past. It offers fascinating glimpses of this past.

The Exhibition programme is exciting, varied.and strongly features the work of Contemporary artists living and working in Wales.

Rural Life Gallery
Contrasting with the life of the towns, rural life in Breconshire (particularly in the 19th century), is recalled vividly on the Lower Ground Floor. There is a fully equipped smithy, an old farmhouse kitchen and a village schoolroom in this section

Art Galleries
The Exhibition Programme is exciting and varied. Predominately the works of Welsh or local artists.

Website:-  Brecknock Museum & Art Gallery

Chepstow Museum displays the rich and varied past of this ancient town, once an important port and market centre. There are displays of Chepstow’s wine trade, shipbuilding and salmon fishing as well as photographs, programme's and posters recalling the pastimes of local people. The 18th and 19th century paintings and prints illustrate the everlasting appeal of Chepstow and the Wye Valley to artists and tourists alike.
The Museum is just across the road from Chepstow Castle in an elegant 18th century house built by a prosperous Chepstow merchant family. The building is named Gwy House and has fascinating tales to tell about prominent people in Chepstow's past.
Warren Jane the Younger, an Apothecary, built it in 1796 and the building continued to be linked to the medical profession. It was owned for many years in the 19th century by a respected local surgeon and became a Red Cross Hospital for soldiers in the First World War. A display in the museum brightly demonstrates the changing uses of the building over the years.

Chepstow Museum displays the rich and varied past of this ancient town, once an important port and market centre.

Llanthony Priory is a picturesque, partly ruined former Augustinian priory in the beautiful and secluded Vale of Ewyas, a steep sided once glaciated valley within the Black Mountains area of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It lies seven miles north of Abergavenny on an old road to Hay on Wye.

The priory dates back to around the year 1100, when Norman nobleman William de Lacy reputedly came upon a ruined chapel of St. David in this location, and was inspired to devote himself to solitary prayer and study. He was joined by Ersinius, a former Chaplain to Queen Matilda, the wife of King Henry I, and then a band of followers. A church was built on the site, dedicated to St John the Baptist, and consecrated in 1108. By 1118, a group of around 40 monks from England founded there an Augustinian priory, the first in Wales.

For more Details See Llanthony

Raglan castle is one of the finest late medieval buildings in the British Isles and, although now ruined, it remains a striking presence in the landscape of south-east Wales. Much of what remains at Raglan dates from the 15th-century, the period of the War of the Roses and the rise of the Tudor dynasty. The Great Tower is the most impressive of the buildings from this period, dominating the two courtyards of the castle. It was built either by William Herbert or his father, William ap Thomas, who had purchased Raglan in 1432. This, and other contemporary works at the castle, are clear evidence of a family whose wealth and political importance were in the ascendance. William Herbert was a key figure in the politics of the late 15th-century. During the War of the Roses he threw in his lot with the Yorkists, supporting Edward IV in his climb towards the throne. The reward for his loyalty was considerable, providing him with the title Earl of Pembroke, and sufficient resources to convert Raglan into a palace-fortress. Earl William's success was, however, to be short-lived. In 1469 he was captured by Lancastrian supporters at the Battle of Edgecote and put to death. The Herberts retained control of Raglan until 1492 when it passed to the Somerset family. William Somerset, the third Earl of Worcester (1526-1589), was the first of his family to significantly alter the castle's buildings. Earl William focused his efforts on upgrading the quality of the hall and service ranges to meet the social expectations of his time. He also established the gardens that were to be such a feature of Elizabethan and Jacobean Raglan, including a series of walled terraces, an artificial lake, a fountain, flower beds and herb gardens. By the middle of the 17th-century, Raglan's fortunes were at their peak.
Raglan was abandoned and left to decay, becoming a convenient source of building material and a picturesque tourist attraction. Today this decay has been halted and the building conserved through the work of Cadw and its predecessors, guardians of the castle since 1938.

The Black Death arrived in 1349 and affected Abbey life badly but it continued to operate until 1536. In that year the Abbey was part of the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. Within a few years the lead was stripped from the roof and the building began to decay. The Abbey then became a source of building stone and only in the eighteenth century was any interest shown in the ruin. Around 1760 the site was cleaned up and visitors to the Wye Valley began to be entranced with the beauty of the site and surroundings.

The museum collection is comprised of artefacts obtained from worldwide sources that reflect the history and character of a regiment that has existed for over 300 years.

We are reputed to have the finest collection of weapons to be found in any regimental museum throughout the country. Our gun collection traces the evolution of solders weapons from the 18th Century to the present day.

The Medal Room contains nearly 3,000 medals. The Victoria Cross case in the main room contains sixteen replica Victoria Crosses. They represent the real ones, which the regiment owns but does not display because they are so valuable.
The main attraction in the museum is the Zulu War Room. The exploits of the 24th Regiment during the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War are legendary. Queen Victoria referred to the soldiers as 'The Noble 24th'. Donald Morris, in his book 'The Washing of the Spears', focused on the Zulu War of 1879, and Sir Stanley Baker developed further interest with his film 'Zulu' in 1964. The film recreated the events surrounding the heroic defence of Rorke's Drift by B Company, 2/24th in the Zulu war of 1879. The Zulu War Room tells this compelling story, and contains a fascinating display of artefacts.

The museum has extensive archive material, particularly relating to the 1879 Zulu war, much of which has never been published. Access to the archives is available to the serious researcher by appointment. Alternatively, email us and we will try to answer your query as long as it is pertinent to the Regiment.

The museum shop is stocked with a wide range of books, particularly on the Zulu War, and regimental souvenirs that can be purchased by mail order. Email us today for a current sales list.

Pictures and paintings, dioramas and drums, assegais and ammunition, buttons, badges and uniforms combine to form a vivid image of life as a soldier - we have things to interest everybody.

Website:-  www.rrw.org.uk