During the First English Civil War, Raglan was occupied by a Royalist garrison on behalf of Charles I but was taken by Parliamentarian forces in 1646 and its walls slighted, or deliberately put beyond military use.

[3] The current Raglan Castle was begun by Sir William ap Thomas, the lesser son of a minor Welsh family who rose through the ranks of mid-15th century politics, profiting from the benefits of the local offices he held.

[5] In 1432, Sir William purchased the manor of Raglan, where he had already been staying as a tenant, for 1,000 marks (£666 13s 4d) and commenced a programme of building work that established the basic shape of the castle as seen today, although most of it—with the exception of the South Gate and the Great Tower—was later built over.

[15] William rebuilt much of the Pitched Stone Court, including the hall, adding the Long Gallery and developing the gardens into the new Renaissance style.

[17] Edward Somerset made minor improvements to the interior of the castle at the start of the 17th century, but focused primarily on the exterior, expanding and developing the gardens and building the moat walk around the Great Tower.

[24] The defences of Raglan were improved after this, with modern earthwork bastions built around the castle and a powder mill created; a garrison of around 300 men was established at a cost of £40,000.

[27] Lord Herbert left the castle to join the campaign against Parliament, returning at intervals to acquire more funds for the war.

[29] The Royalist cause was now close to military collapse, and the Marquess started to send some valuables, including the oak panelling from the parlour, some plaster ceiling and many pictures, to his brother at nearby Troy House for safe-keeping.

[31] Large amounts of food were brought in to support the growing castle community, which also included a number of the wider Herbert family and other regional Royalist leaders who had sought shelter there.

[34] Informed shortly before his death that Parliament had granted his request to be buried in the family vault at Windsor, the Marquess remarked; "Why then I shall have a better castle when I am dead, than they took from me when alive.

"[35] Fairfax ordered the castle to be totally destroyed under the supervision of Henry Herbert, a descendant of William ap Thomas.

[37] Historian Matthew Johnson describes the event as having the atmosphere of a "community festival", as local people dredged the castle moat in search of treasure, and emptied the fishponds of valuable carp.

[27] Despite some immediate confiscations after the siege, by the time of the Restoration of Charles II, the Somerset family had managed to recover most of their possessions, including Raglan Castle.

[39] Henry Somerset, the 3rd Marquess, decided to prioritise the rebuilding of his other houses at Troy and Badminton, rather than Raglan, reusing some of the property sent away for safety before the war, or salvaged after the slighting.

[40] One particular estate surveyor called Hopkins became known as the "Grand Dilapidator", due to the number of chimneys, window frames and staircases he had removed from the castle.

[41] Henry Somerset, the 5th Duke, finally put an end to this practice in 1756, and the castle became a tourist attraction, part of the popular Wye Tour.

[42] The Monmouthshire antiquarian Joseph Bradney recorded a visit to the castle by Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, then Prince and Princess of Wales, in October 1881.

[57] The intention of the design was at least partially defensive, but was also intended to provide a dramatic and impressive entrance for senior visitors to the castle.

[60] The Closet Tower was partly altered in later years, possibly to allow the basement to be used as a magazine in the English Civil War.

[61] The castle kitchens and pantries are on the north side, containing two large fireplaces and storage facilities for food and supplies in their cellars.

[66] A large oriel window lit the end of the hall occupied at dinner by the earls of Worcester, which by the time Raglan was built would have been used only for larger formal occasions.

[71] The castle chapel runs alongside the east side of the court, 41 feet (12 metres) long and originally laid with bright yellow and tiles and decorated with gold and silver vestments.

[75] Although most of this decoration has since been lost, two caryatid statues can still be seen on the walls of the Long Gallery, modelled on a work by the French artist Hugues Sambin.

[81] The fan-vaulted gatehouse closely resembles the contemporary cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral, but by the 16th century had been converted to the entrance to the bowling green in the terrace beyond.

[87] In the 15th century the fashion spread, with the creation of French-influenced palatial castles featuring complex tower keeps, such as those at Wardour and Tattershall.

[90] The tower today has lost not only one of its walls but part of its upper structure, and would originally have been three storeys high with probably additional machicolations on top similar to those on the gatehouse.

[91] It was designed to be a self-contained fortification, with its own water and food supplies, and luxurious quarters lit by large windows on the upper floors.

[92] Originally the tower was reached by a bascule drawbridge, usually considered to be drawn from contemporary French designs, such as those at Ferté-Milon and Vannes.

First created in the second half of the 16th century, these terraces would originally have included a number of knot gardens, probably with Italianate sculpture and carved stone balustrades.