Ruperra Castle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ruperra Castle is situated in the county borough of Caerphilly in South East Wales. Built in 1626 by Sir Thomas Morgan, Steward to the Earl of Pembroke, it was one of the first of the 'mock' castles to be built in Wales. It later was absorbed into the Tredegar Estate and became home, especially in the 19th century, to the heir of the estate. It is currently under threat from housing development.
King Charles I spent two nights at Ruperra Castle in 1645 shortly after the Battle of Naseby.
Godfrey Charles Morgan, 2nd Baron, 1st Viscount Tredegar, who was a captain in the 17th Lancers during the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War, was born at Ruperra.
Evan Morgan, 4th Baron, 2nd Viscount Tredegar, poet and noted eccentric with links to Aldous Huxley, Lord Alfred Douglas, Augustus John, Nancy Cunard and HG Wells owned Ruperra. He grew up there and, apparently, refused to sell it to William Randolph Hearst. Evan was the owner when fire devastated the castle in 1941.
Ruperra Castle, a Grade II* Listed Building and Scheduled Ancient Monument, is described as "a unique Jacobean castellated manor house" which "stands in 160 acres of historic parkland". It has been "overgrown with vegetation and deteriorating for over 50 years" .[1]
