National Trust - Skenfrith Castle — Attraction in Skenfrith

The castle is part of a lordship that was brought together in 1135, by King Stephen or Stephen of Blois as he is also known, to form the castles of the trilateral or the Three Castles. The three castles are formed of Skenfrith, Grosmont and White Castle and is now a very popular hiking and trekking route, over 19.4 miles between all of the castles that take you to views of mountains in south wales that include the beautiful Black Mountains and the Forest of Dean, an explorers paradise.

The castle is circled by what would have been a motte back in the day that was built next to the river to defend its border. Skenfrith is similar to its sister castles in that they arnt on high ground and its placed at wall height. The fortifications are very simple and you can see the two round towers in the corners, a large circular keep in the middle and an entrance to the water gate, one of the towers is ruined, as is the entrance gate and the site has been filled in from where the moat would have surrounded the area. You can also see excavated rooms to the right of the keep where a large hall and some rooms once were.

Overall, your visit to Skenfrith is going to pleasant but short as there isn't anything to walk up or around aside from the site of course, there is the usual brief but informative information placed at the entrance and the site and just outside there is a nice picnic area. A suggestion would be to visit all three of the castles so that you are able to understand the story between them and see how well preserved the ruins are.

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Next stop was Skenfrith and we most ignored the sat nav's earnest entreaties to take 'short cuts' and stuck to the main (B!) roads. Skenfrith was actually signposted although the parking was on a steep grass bank that I wouldn't fancy using in the wet. We all needed some refreshments so walked down to the village hall where the dogs had some water and we had bacon sandwiches and Alice had a whole tub of a chocolate ice cream. The joys of being indulgent grandparents! Next to the village hall was St Bridgets church, sadly locked up but apparently dating from the reign of bad King John. The castle was a squarish curtain wall with a large round keep in the middle. The information boards were great for putting the building in context and the Watergate gave an idea of the original river location. Alice and I watched people swimming in the river for a while (in disbelief in my case!) and then continued our wandering where she spotted a snake, with better eyesight than Deb or I! After walking down to the river again, twice so Alice could count the steps each time, we walked back to the car...

My visit took place on a warm sunny day as part of a tour taking in the castles at Bronllys, Skenfrith, Grosmont and Whitecastle. Compared to the number of tourists at the other sites I was completely taken aback by the number of visitors here – in addition to the draw of the castle ruins themselves there is a large lawn area and adjacent river that seemed to be attracting sunbathers and people taking a dip. As a result the car parking area directly outside which would normally be adequate for a monument like this was full to capacity. If it is a fine day this is certainly the one for a picnic or family day out.

The castle its self is fairly substantial and is unstaffed so admission is free and is worth 45 minutes of so for a walk around before moving on. There are no facilities (toilets, catering etc.) at this site so perhaps consider a visit to the nearby town of Abergavenny as part of a tour taking in the other nearby castles if looking...