Abergavenny Castle & Museum

The Museum at Abergavenny Castle was opened in July 1959 as the result of voluntary effort by the Abergavenny Museum Society led by Alfred and Ernest Jackson. It was taken over by Abergavenny Borough Council on s1st April 197l.

This motte – literally ‘mound of earth’ was probably built by the Norman Lord Hamelin de Ballon. Evidence suggests that the castle was founded in 1087 AD, although its large size hints at an earlier construction.

To construct a motte, labourers would dig a circular ditch then pile up a huge, smooth-sided earth mound within it. In Hamelin de Ballon’s time, the tower (known as the keep) built at the top of the motte would have been wooden, possibly reached via a flying bridge. The keep would have been surrounded by a timber palisade. Beneath the motte was the bailey – a courtyward containing the outbuildings and stables.

The  whole castle was destroyed in 1233 by Richard March, Earl of Pembroke, and the Welsh princes. The keep was in stone; it had a round tower with “pointed and gothic doorways and windows, as described by Archdeacon Coxe in 1799. The illustration here depicts this stone keep as it might have appeared around 1250AD. At this time, other buildings and outer defences were still made of timber.

The keep, along with most of the other castle buildings were destroyed in the Civil War, between 1645-1645. Archdeacon Coxe was describing a ruin.

In 1818/1819, the present tower – now the mjuseum – was constructed on top of the motte and became the hunting lodge for the Marquis of Abergavenny. Fragments of the original stonework can still be seen in the present structure.

The Cellars

Openings to these shafts can be seen from the rooms on the ground floor. They were probably originally covered with a metal grille.

It is believed the cellar dates to the thirteenth or fourteenth century and various suggestions have been made as to their use.

It may have been a prison. Accounts from 1256-7 record “For two pairs of manacles for the prison – 6d.” In 1389, following the death of John Hasting the Younger, documents refer to a prison.  In the accounts of 1499-1500 there is a reference to debtors being detained in the castle.


Advice before visiting:
Please check opening hours before visiting.
Plenty of space for children to enjoy outdoors, but need supervising because of stonework.