Ruperra Castle

Ruperra Castle or Rhiwperra Castle (Welsh: Castell Rhiw'r Perrai) is a Grade II* Listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument, situated in Lower Machen in the county borough of Caerphilly, Wales. Built in 1626, the castle is in a ruinous condition as at 2023. Its grounds are listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in 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. King Charles I spent two nights at Ruperra Castle in 1645 shortly after the Battle of Naseby. Resultantly the royal coat of arms was added to the decoration on the South Porch, and the present public footpath from Rudry to the Castle is still known as "King's Drive".

It was bought as his home by wealthy John Morgan "the merchant" for 12,400 pounds. He was unmarried and it was consolidated on his death in 1715 into the Tredegar estates of the Morgan family.

It was destroyed by fire in 1785, and rebuilt, resultantly becoming home, especially in the 19th century, to the heir of the estate. Godfrey Morgan, who was the second son of the 1st Baron Tredegar, was born at Ruperra, and went on to survive the Charge of the Light Brigade. It was during his tenure of Ruperra that he undertook significant development, adding three new lodges as well as in 1826 a now listed iron bridge, allowing a carriage way through Coed Craig Ruperra and across the Rhymney River to Lower Machen Church, where the family and their servants attended Sunday services.

After the death of army officer turned politician Colonel Frederic Morgan in 1909, his eldest son Courtenay Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar, embarked on a programme of refurbishment. Minor adjustments were made to the main house, but his major improvement was the building of a new stable block to replace the one destroyed by fire in 1895, a new reservoir and pump house in the deer park, and a new power house fitted with duplicate steam-driven generators, dynamos and boilers. The 1840s brewhouse, laundry and dairy range were converted to accommodate the estate's staff.

As Courtenay also succeeded to his uncle's estates in 1913, taking up residence at Tredegar House, his son, Evan Morgan (later the second Viscount Tredegar), became a potential occupier of the property.

Text adapted from “Ruperra Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ruperra Castle ranks #3,814 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #71 of the 100 mapped in Wales. Founded 1626, it is older than 30% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 626 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. 9 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Cardiff, 10 km away. See how Wales compares in the castle statistics.

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