Tintern Abbey and Castles Galore

As the perfect culmination of our first week in Wales the Colgate Wales study group went off castle hopping! We all piled onto a giant bus, which was quite possibly the scariest thing that has happened since we arrived (very small streets), and set off in search of some history.

The first castle we happened upon was the beautiful Castell Caerffili, located in the charming town of Caerphilly, not far from Cardiff. It was originally built by Gilbert 'the red' de Clare as a defense against a neighboring noble, Llywelyn the Last and has had a myriad of owners since though ultimately, like most other castles, it fell into disrepair.
I find this to be such a pity as who wouldn't want their very own castle...quite a nice summer home if you ask me...though I have to admit that moats and seriously disgusting things.
The second castle we visited was Castell Rhaglan, an impressively large and complex late medieval castle located in Monmouthshire which is also not very far from Cardiff. The castle on the site today was started by Sir William ap Thomas though it was eventually transformed into a glorious mansion in the later 16th century and I can attest that it would have been absolutely incredible. It too was destroyed though rather more deliberately than Caerphilly during the Civil War.
Fun fact: Led Zeppelin shot part of their film The Song Remains the Same at Raglan. Awesome.

The last stop on our tour (after a delicious Indian lunch in Monmouth) was Tintern Abbey. While I thought the castles were absolutely incredible I think Tintern was my favourite stop. The architecture is absolutely unbelievable and the setting is beautiful. I now completely understand the magic Wordsworth felt at the place...lovely.
The Abbey was the home of an order of Cistercian monks from approximately 1136 until 1536 when it was surrendered after King Henry VIII took complete control of the Church in the England and from then on the magnificent Abbey fell to ruin.






I think one of the most interesting things about touring ruins is how disconnected one feels from the people that inhabited them. It seems almost impossible that however many years ago these piles of rocks, however intricately designed and constructed when visible, used to belong to people...they were someones home...but then there were the fireplaces. At Raglan most of the floors of the main buildings were completely gone and so there were only fireplaces in the walls at the most unusual heights and it were the fireplaces that really hit home.










I also discovered I wouldn't like life as a Cistercian...only the Church, the infirmary, and the entrance hall were allowed fires. Brrr. It was really, really cold.