Curtain Walls of St Fagans Castle with attached Bothies in the Service Yard

Cadw's description

Location

One of the associated structures in the gardens of St Fagans Castle and part of the Museum of Welsh Life.

History

The surviving wall represents the idea of a medieval curtain rather than the actuality. The foundations and some of the lower parts may date from medieval times, perhaps the late C13 and may have formed a shell keep or part of an inner bailey. The walling on the south-west side on the edge of the scarp is likely to be particularly old as a drawing of the castle in 1825 shows. This also demonstrates that it does not appear to have been repaired formally as a part of the early C17 house and garden, though it probably did on the entrance front where the forecourt walls, part of which are of the curtain, served conveniently to make a raised walk for viewing the formal parterres as was popular in gardens of the time. The walls were than further repaired in the C19 and early C20 as part of the improvements undertaken by the Windsor family and the entrance arch and castellations will have been made at this time although an entrance must have been there from the early C17 at least.

Exterior

Limestone rubble walls about 5m in height. The wall has a C20 segmental archway on the east side through which the forecourt of the present house is entered. From this point it continues southwards and westwards following the crest of the hill on which the castle was built and returns north along the west side of the hill where parts of it are incorporated within the later C19 structures of the house's service ranges (qv St. Fagans Castle). The south run incorporates single storey lean-to stone and slate bothies facing the yard. These are now used by the Cooper and Woodturner of the Museum of Welsh Life. The wall on the north and east sides of the forecourt has a wall walk and a castellated parapet. The castellations continue around the perimeter but it is known that these are post 1825.

Reason for designation

Included as a relic of a medieval castle and as a structure associated with an important Elizabethan country house.