Editing Raglan Castle (section)

===17th century===
[[File:Raglan Castle Civil War bastons.png|thumb|left|upright=1.0|Aerial photograph, showing the defences constructed during the [[First English Civil War]]; red and blue triangles represent the location of Parliamentarian and Royalist earthwork [[bastion]]s; A and B indicate the locations of the Parliamentary and Royalist artillery batteries.]]

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.<ref name="Kenyon 2003, p.17">Kenyon (2003), p.17.</ref> The resulting gardens were considered the equal of any others in the kingdom at the time.<ref name=Kenyon2003P18>Kenyon (2003), p.18.</ref>

Upon inheriting Raglan in 1628, [[Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester|Henry Somerset]], then the 5th Earl of Worcester, continued to live a grand lifestyle in the castle in the 1630s, with a host of staff, including a steward, Master of Horse, Master of Fishponds, surveyors, auditors, ushers, a falconer and many footmen.<ref name=TribeP1>Tribe, p.1.</ref> The interior walls were hung with rich tapestries from [[Arras]] in France, while an inventory taken in 1639 recorded a large number of silver and gilt plate kept in the Great Tower, including an ostrich egg cup,<ref>''HMC 12th Report, part 9: Duke of Beaufort'' (London, 1891), pp. 6-8.</ref> and a silver basket for oranges and lemons, then luxury items in Wales.<ref name=TribeP3>Tribe, p.3.</ref> Mead was a popular drink in the castle, but contemporaries described the castle as being a particular sober and respectful community.<ref>Tribe, pp.3–4.</ref> Henry developed the entrance route to the castle, including building the Red Gate.<ref name=Kenyon2003P18/> His son [[Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester|Edward, Lord Herbert]] became famous for building a "[[Steam engine|water commanding machine]]" in the Great Tower, which used steam to pump a huge spout of water high into the air from the moat.<ref name=Kenyon2003P18/>

In August 1642 the First English Civil War began between [[Cavaliers|Royalist]] supporters of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] and [[Parliament of England|Parliament]]. Raglan Castle was still held by Henry, then an elderly man, supported by his son, Lord Herbert.<ref name=TribeP1/> Both men were firm royalists.<ref name=TribeP1/> King Charles sent his own son, Prince [[Charles II of England|Charles]], on a fund-raising tour of friendly regions, starting with Raglan Castle in October 1642, following which Henry was promoted to be the first [[Marquess of Worcester]].<ref name=TribeP3/> Tensions grew in the immediate region, partially driven by religious tensions between some of the more [[Protestant]] local people and the [[Roman Catholic]] Marquess; on one of these occasions a local group attempted to search the castle, but were reportedly driven away by the sudden noise of Lord Herbert's steam-engine.<ref>Tribe, p.5.</ref> The defences of Raglan were improved after this, with [[Star fort|modern earthwork]] [[bastion]]s built around the castle and a [[powder mill]] created; a garrison of around 300 men was established at a cost of £40,000.<ref>Tribe, pp.4, 6; Kenyon (2003), p.19.</ref>{{#tag:ref|It is difficult to accurately compare 17th century and modern prices or incomes. £40,000 could equate to between £5,510,000 to £63,700,000, depending on the measure used. For comparison, the Marquess's annual income was believed to be around £20,000 a year.<ref>Financial comparison based on the RPI index, using ''[http://www.measuringworth.com/index.php Measuring Worth Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount, 1830 to Present]'', MeasuringWorth, accessed 21 April 2011; Pugin, p.23.</ref>|group="nb"}} Heavier cannon were installed in the bastions, with lighter pieces placed in the castle towers.<ref name="Kenyon 2003, p.20">Kenyon (2003), p.20.</ref>

Lord Herbert left the castle to join the campaign against Parliament, returning at intervals to acquire more funds for the war.<ref>Tribe, p.6.</ref> Charles I himself visited the castle twice, first in June 1645 after the [[battle of Naseby]] and again in 1646, when he enjoyed playing [[bowls]] on the castle's green.<ref>Tribe, pp.6–7.</ref> 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.<ref name=TribeP8>Tribe, p.8.</ref> Lord Herbert was captured in Ireland, and an attack on Raglan itself appeared imminent.<ref name=TribeP8/>

[[File:The hexagonal Great Tower, Raglan Castle - geograph.org.uk - 1531739.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|The [[Slighting|slighted]] side of the Great Tower]]

In expectation of a siege, the castle garrison was increased to around 800 soldiers; the avenue of trees outside the castle gates were cut down, and neighbouring buildings destroyed to prevent their being used by Parliamentary forces.<ref>Tribe, p.8; Kenyon (2003), p.19.</ref> 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.<ref name=TribeP9>Tribe, p.9.</ref> The first Parliamentary army arrived in early June, under the command of Colonel Morgan and Sir [[Sir Trevor Williams, 1st Baronet|Trevor Williams]].<ref>Tribe, pp.9–10.</ref> After several calls for the castle to surrender, a siege ensued, lasting through the summer months.<ref name=TribeP9/> In August, additional Parliamentarian forces under General [[Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron|Fairfax]] arrived, and calls for the castle to surrender were renewed.<ref name=TribeP11>Tribe, p.11.</ref> Fairfax's men began to dig trenches towards the castle, and used these to move [[Mortar (weapon)|mortars]] forward, probably including the famous "[[Roaring Meg (cannon)|Roaring Meg]]", bringing the interior of the castle into artillery range.<ref name=TribeP11/> Facing a hopeless situation, the Marquess surrendered the castle on 19 August on relatively generous terms for the garrison.<ref name=TribeP11/> The Marquess himself was arrested and sent to [[Windsor Castle]], where he died shortly afterwards.<ref name=TribeP11/> Informed shortly before his death that Parliament had granted his request to be buried in the [[St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle|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."<ref name=ClarkP64>Clark, (1953), p.64.</ref>

[[File:Raglan Castle (0245).jpg|thumb|The buttress in the Pitched Stone Court was damaged during the slighting of the castle. Archaeologist Lila Rakoczy suggested that the depth of the stone being removed indicates that a statue or decorative form of stone was originally present, and the removal of high-status and visually prominent material would have been a symbolic act.<ref>Rakoczy, p.140–141</ref>]]

Fairfax ordered the castle to be totally destroyed under the supervision of Henry Herbert, a descendant of William ap Thomas.<ref name=TribeP12>Tribe, p.12.</ref> The fortifications proved too strong, however, and only a few of the walls were destroyed, or [[slighting|slighted]].<ref name=TribeP12/> 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]].<ref>Johnson, p.174, cited Whittle (1990).</ref> The [[Raglan Library|castle's library]], including an important collection of Welsh documents and books, was either stolen or destroyed.<ref name="Kenyon 2003, p.20"/>

Despite some immediate confiscations after the siege, by the time of the [[Restoration (England)|Restoration]] of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], the Somerset family had managed to recover most of their possessions, including Raglan Castle.<ref name=Kenyon2003P22>Kenyon (2003), p.22.</ref> [[Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort|Henry Somerset]], the 3rd Marquess, decided to prioritise the rebuilding of his other houses at [[Troy House|Troy]] and [[Badminton House|Badminton]], rather than Raglan, reusing some of the property sent away for safety before the war, or salvaged after the slighting.<ref name=Kenyon2003P22/>