Thank you to everyone that came to see us at Machen Show on Saturday 2 July. It was wonderful to meet new people and hear about their support for Ruperra Castle.

We registered new members of the Ruperra Castle Preservation Trust. Find out more about membership which provides you with monthly updates about the work of the Trust and opportunities to get more involved with our campaign to save the Castle.

​We also sold our historical books about the Castle.
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The children were so creative in imagining a future for the Castle. Congratulations to Harley (aged 9) and Maxwell (aged 6) for their winning Lego entries (pictured).

This is because the Statutory Register of Parks and Gardens in Wales of Special Historic Interest came into force. The new register replaced the non-statutory one that was first launched in 1994 in response to the growing awareness of the historic importance of designed landscapes and of their vulnerability to development pressure.

All registered historic parks and gardens that are of special historic interest are graded using a system like that used for listed buildings (I, II* and II). The historic layout, features and architectural ornaments of a park or garden are considered together when determining a grade. 

The deer and landscape park plus the formal garden and pleasure grounds around Ruperra Castle have been recognised as Grade 2: parks and gardens of special interest. These make up around 67 per cent of the total number of registered parks and gardens in Wales. Regardless of their grade, all registered historic parks and gardens are treated equally within the planning system.

The image from Cof Cymru shows Grade 2* Ruperra Castle and surrounding outbuildings. It is also recognised as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, Site of Special Scientific Interest and now Grade 2 deer and landscape park plus formal garden and pleasure grounds.

Each registered historic park and garden is given a record where you can read a description and reason for designation. These can now be seen alongside Listed Buildings, Scheduled Ancient Monuments and World Heritage sites on Cof Cymru — National Historic Assets of Wales on Cadw’s website.

Ruperra: A document of 1559 refers to 'Rhiw'r perrai' the 'hill or slope of pear trees' but their exact location was not known.

In 1654 Constantin Huygens the Dutch Ambassador had come for a meeting with Lord Protector Cromwell in London. The Dutch born widow of Sir Lewis Morgan of Ruperra arranged a visit to the new Castle for the son of the Ambassador, Lodewijck Huygens, who refers to fruit trees in the garden: 

“…Around noon we reached the very beautiful Rhiwperra House. The mansion is square with a round tower on each corner which adds a closet to almost every room. There is a large and lovely hall to the right of the entrance and a number of other fine rooms. There is a very fine garden on the right with very attractive parterres and walks …and another garden with a large number of fruit trees …laid out on the slope of a hill, which one climbs gradually by six or eight steps at a time, upon reaching the highest step, one would never guessed how charming the view is towards the Severn across this very beautiful and fertile valley.”

​An old pub sign from the Ruperra Arms in Bassaleg depicted children scrumping for pears (pictured).
 
Some people tell us that it is very difficult to grow pears in the area. We are going to try by planting some pears on a South facing slope on the hill in the Coed Craig Ruperra woodland next door to the Castle.
Do you know anything about Ruperra pears? Do you successfully grow pears in the area? We’d love to hear from you, email: ruperracastlepreservationtrust@gmail.com

The walk from the Church to the Castle takes about 45 minutes, along public footpaths and over the Iron Bridge. The reason the Sunday morning service still starts at 11.15 and not 11.00, was originally to enable the servants of Ruperra Castle to clear away breakfast and walk to church in time to meet the family who would arrive by coach. 

The church is happy for walkers and cyclists to use the toilet anytime, which is situated in the building at the back of the graveyard behind a red door. Please respectfully leave it clean and tidy!

To arrange a visit to view the chapel and hatchments please email: lowermachenchurch@gmail.com 

If you are unable to visit you can take a virtual tour and view the hatchments and chapel: Heritage – St. Michael & All Angels Church, Lower Machen
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The Church have also produced some remarkable books on the Chapel and Hatchments which are available for delivery for a donation. Find out more about the remarkable books
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View maps and find out how to visit the area
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