Old Beaupre Castle facts for kids
Old Beaupre Castle is an amazing old building in Wales. It's not really a castle, but more like a very strong house from the medieval times. It's called a "fortified manor house" because it was built to be a fancy home but also had defenses like thick walls. You can find it near a town called Cowbridge in a place called Llanfair.
People have known this place by different names over time, like Beawpire or Bewpyr. Today, it's a very important historic building, listed as a Grade I building. This means it's super special! Cadw, a group that looks after historic sites in Wales, takes care of it. The best part is, you can visit Old Beaupre Castle for free any time of the year!
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What is Old Beaupre Castle?
Even though it's called a castle, Old Beaupre is really a large, strong house. The first part of the house was built around the year 1300. It was shaped like an 'L' and is now inside the main courtyard. For hundreds of years, until the 1700s, the Basset family owned this special home.
How it Changed Over Time
In the 1500s, the Basset family started making big changes to the house. Sir Rice Mansel began the work, and then William Basset and his son, Richard, finished it. They added many impressive parts:
- A grand outer gatehouse, finished in 1586. This was like the main entrance.
- A beautiful three-story Renaissance porch, completed in 1600.
- More buildings around the middle courtyard.
The buildings on the west side of the middle court were very fancy. They had big windows, nice fireplaces, and a cool stone staircase. They even had special toilets called garderobes that were connected to a drain!
The Decline of the Castle
After the 1500s, not much more work was done on Beaupre. After the English Civil War, the Basset family started to lose their money. In the early 1700s, the house went to the Jones family. But they didn't want to live in such a big, old place. They chose a smaller home nearby called New Beaupre.
Old Beaupre was sold in 1709. By then, it was falling apart, and only a small part of it could still be lived in. People think parts of it were still used for a while, as some windows were blocked up. This might have been to pay less tax! Even today, one part of the old building is still used as a farmhouse.
Exploring the Site
Old Beaupre Castle is about 100 meters long and between 25 to 56 meters wide. It's built around three main areas, called courts. The main entrance is through the impressive gatehouse on the south side. This gatehouse connects the outer court to the middle court.
The oldest part of the building is the south block. You can still see the original entrance from the 1300s next to the newer gatehouse. This old entrance now has a Tudor window where the arch used to be.
Key Features of the Castle
Old Beaupre Castle doesn't have many windows facing outwards, making it look very strong, almost like a group of fortified barns.
- The Gatehouse: You enter through a low-walled outer courtyard to reach the gatehouse. It's a three-story building surrounded by a strong wall.
- The Inner Porch: This part really stands out! It's made of smooth, finely cut stone, which is different from the rougher local stone around it. This porch was designed by Richard Twrch. It has different styles, including a Tudor arch and fancy decorations. It also has three levels of columns, getting fancier as they go up: from simple Doric to Ionic, and then to very detailed Corinthian. The middle level even shows the Basset family's special symbols!
- The Great Hall: After the entrance porch, you'd find the great hall from the 1300s. It doesn't have a roof anymore. The windows were probably made bigger in the 1500s, but the beautiful fireplace with family symbols is still from the 1300s.
The buildings on the east side of the middle court are four stories high but have no roof. The buildings on the west side are three stories high and date from around 1540. They also have no floor or roof now.
Visiting Old Beaupre Castle
Old Beaupre Castle is a protected historic site and a Grade I listed building. It's considered a great example of a medieval manor house that was changed a lot during the Tudor period. Its carved Renaissance porch is especially amazing!
Cadw looks after Old Beaupre Castle. You can visit it for free all year round. There's a small car park about 250 meters away. From there, you walk across some fields to get to the castle, going through stiles and a kissing gate. It's a fun place to explore and imagine what life was like long ago!
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