Clytha Castle ( cy, Castell Cleidda) is a

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

near

Clytha Clytha is a hamlet and historical area in Monmouthshire, Wales. Overview It lies just off the A40 road, to the south of Llanarth and west of Raglan. It contains Clytha Park and Clytha Castle and Llanarth Estate Office, Ty Gwynt and Pit House ...

between Llanarth and Raglan in

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

, south east

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Dating from 1790, the castle was built by William Jones, owner of the

Clytha Park Clytha Park, Clytha, Monmouthshire, is a 19th-century Neoclassical country house, "the finest early nineteenth century Greek Revival house in the county." The wider estate encompasses Monmouthshire's "two outstanding examples of late eighteenth ...

estate as a memorial to his wife, Elizabeth, who died in 1787. The castle is an example of the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

and comprises three towers, of which two are habitable, and linking,

castellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

curtain walls. Long attributed to John Nash, recent research has confirmed that the architect was John Davenport of Shrewsbury. The folly has views towards the Sugar Loaf and

Skirrid Ysgyryd Fawr ( en, Skirrid) is an easterly outlier of the Black Mountains in Wales, and forms the easternmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The hill is often referred to locally as just The Skirrid. The smaller hill of Ysgyryd Fa ...

mountains on the easternmost edge of the

Brecon Beacons National Park The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain (range), Black Mountain ...

. Described by the architectural historian John Newman as one of the two "outstanding examples of late eighteenth century fanciful Gothic in the county", Clytha Castle is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Location

Clytha Castle is set close to the A40

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wi ...

to Raglan road, originally within the parkland that formed part of the estate of nearby

, some four miles west of Raglan. The Monmouthshire antiquarian Sir Joseph Bradney, in his multi-volume

A History of Monmouthshire from the Coming of the Normans into Wales down to the Present Time ''A History of Monmouthshire from the Coming of the Normans into Wales down to the Present Time'' is a study of the county of Monmouthshire written by Sir Joseph Bradney and published by Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke of London between 1904 and 19 ...

, records that the castle was connected to the park by a carriage drive that crossed the Clytha Gorge via a

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

. The setting gives "magnificent views" across the valley to the

and Sugar Loaf Mountains.

History and description

Clytha Castle is a

crenellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

stone

with

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

windows set on a rounded hill, amid chestnut groves, overlooking Clytha Park and the

River Usk The River Usk (; cy, Afon Wysg) rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain (''y Mynydd Du''), Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially forming the boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys, it fl ...

. It was built in 1790 by William Jones of

in memory of his wife, Elizabeth Morgan. William Jones engaged John Davenport, an architect based in Shrewsbury to design the castle, built "for the purpose of relieving a mind sincerely afflicted by the loss of a most excellent wife". A tablet set into the walls of the folly records this dedication. The castle was for many years believed to have been designed by John Nash, but recent research has confirmed Davenport's authorship. The folly experts Gwyn Headley and Wim Meulenkamp describe the architectural style deployed at Clytha as "a late fling of Strawberry Hill Gothick” and the building as "the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

of Wales". John Newman considers it one of the two "outstanding examples of late eighteenth century fanciful Gothic in the county". Built of rendered rubble stone with

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of ...

dressing, the plan is ''L'' shaped, with a square, two-storeyed central block, with screen walls and drum towers to either side. The building's proportions, and its landscape setting, contribute to its success as an eyecatcher; "everything is big and simple, to (be) read from a distance." The round tower is roofless and was designed as a shell in order to add symmetry to the facade.

John Claudius Loudon John Claudius Loudon (8 April 1783 – 14 December 1843) was a Scottish botanist, garden designer and author. He was the first to use the term arboretum in writing to refer to a garden of plants, especially trees, collected for the purpose of ...

, horticulturalist and historian of the

Picturesque Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in ''Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year ...

was not impressed, describing the folly as "gaudy and affectedly common". The

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...

listing record describes Clytha Castle, which it designates a

, as "one of the outstanding 18th century follies of Wales". The garden and park at Clytha, which include the castle, are designated Grade I on the

Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), the ...

. Clytha Castle is in the care of the

Landmark Trust The Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then makes them available for holiday rental. The Trust's headqua ...

, which has maintained the building since 1974, and is available to rent.

Footnotes

References

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

{{commons category, Clytha Castle
The Landmark Trust
– owners of Clytha Castle today Grade I listed buildings in Monmouthshire Folly buildings in Wales Towers in Wales Buildings and structures in Monmouthshire Monuments and memorials in Monmouthshire History of Monmouthshire Mock castles in Wales Gothic Revival architecture in Wales Tourist attractions in Monmouthshire Landmark Trust properties in Wales Country houses in Monmouthshire Folly castles in the United Kingdom Georgian architecture in Wales Registered historic parks and gardens in Monmouthshire