Famous Faces

Continuing the Crickhowell/Brecon theme, two famous faces were there last year making a film called "The Libertine".  They were actually filming at Tretower Court and Castle which is about three miles north of Crickhowell but apparently they visited a lot of the local area.  Who were they?

 Johnny Depp and

 John Malkovitch

Oh how I wish that I had been there at the time.  I would have had to ask the delectable Mr. Depp if I could go swimming in his eyes!!!!

This is Tretower Court:-

From what I have read "The Libertine" is the story of a 17th poet, John Wilmot, who was a friend of Charles the second. So, if and when you see this movie you will know some of the places and might even recognise this house.

Here is its history:-

This remarkable medieval country house is one of the rare and glorious survivals that Wales has to offer. When Roger Picard arrived in the valley at the end of the 11th century with the Norman invaders, he built a simple motte and bailey castle at Tretower, which the next six generations of the family enlarged and strengthened. By the early 14th century more comfortable domestic accommodation was required, so the building of Tretower Court began and was continued over the next 350 years. With an architectural history almost as complex as the family succession, this charming fortified manor house offers the visitor an evocative glimpse of the lifestyle enjoyed by the more affluent members of society during the Middle Ages.

Among the early owners of Tretower are listed Lord Berkeley and the Earl of Pembroke, but probably the most noted link with the house is that of Henry Vaughan, the 'Silurist'. Henry was a nephew to the owner of Tretower and never actually lived at the house, but history records that he had an intimate association with the property, inspired by the tranquillity of it's surrounding environment. As a great poet and distinguished writer, whose works are highly acclaimed among the literature of 17th century England, Henry's love of the gentle Usk valley and the hauntingly beautiful Black Mountains was captured for eternity by his words.

Up until 1783 Tretower was owned by descendants of Picard, although the family name changed several times as a result of the convoluted circumstances of inheritance. By the middle of the 15th century the family name of Vaughan was firmly established, and it was Sir Roger Vaughan, an extremely wealthy commoner, who really made his mark on the new building, doubling the size and embellishing it with quality dressed stonework and ornate woodwork.

Additions and alterations were subsequently made, especially after it passed out of the family in the late 18th century to become a farm, but the core of the house remains essentially 14th and 15th  century in origin. Developed to form an irregular four-sided, two-storey building with a central courtyard, the house looks intriguingly different from every angle. There is a first floor timber gallery running the length of one range, there are battlemented wall walks along a further two ranges, and there is a most amazing combination of various window styles and doorways throughout the entire building.

Tretower Court is preserved as a museum.  It has absolutely no furniture in it but you are free roam and study the stonework, the windows etc.  On our last visit there it was a beautiful hot afternoon. We were the only visitors so we had the place to ourselves.  The sun was streaming in through the leaded windows. I wandered around dreaming myself back in time, wondering what it would have been like to have lived there and worn beautiful clothes.  I was lost in a world of my own and it was wonderful.

 Mike has cause to remember it rather well.  He was using the video camera to take some good footage and he was creeping along the upper gallery, the camera firmly clapped to his eye and he did not see the step down into the coming room.  He went head over heels and landed flat on his face.  He did not hurt himself, but it made wonderful video and we still laugh at his "filmed" fall as you can hear the rest of us laughing as it happened.

This is all that remains of Tretower Castle.

Well I hope you find this interesting. Becky has arrived with Nathan now so I am going off to enjoy their company.  Have a good day everyone.

Signature courtesy of RobinsRoost