{"id":14251,"date":"2024-05-15T23:47:51","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T22:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14251"},"modified":"2024-05-15T23:50:05","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T22:50:05","slug":"14251","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14251","title":{"rendered":"Penhow"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Penhow<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Penhow – <\/strong>As you read this the weather will be sunny and warmer (I hope), but we undertook this walk towards the end of all that winter rain. We parked on the A48 near Penhow, taking a footpath to Penhow castle. Our route took in Penhow Castle farm, passing Magor services on M4, Pencoed castle and back to Penhow via Llandevaud.<\/p>\n

The manor of Penhow was held by Caradog ap Gruffydd, Prince of Gwent before the Norman invasion. The estate was seized, and a Norman knight built Penhow castle in the 12th century. By the mid twentieth century the castle was deteriorating and was restored by film director, Stephen Weeks. It is a Grade II listed building, private home and some claim the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Wales. Walking through the farmyard we admired the agricultural buildings and castle and visited the small church complete with bell tower and bellringers\u2019 ropes.<\/p>\n

We walked along the road as the fields were waterlogged and a stream beside the road, St Brides brook, was overflowing. Indeed, we paddled along the road and kept to its centre to avoid puddles. Some, who will remain nameless, really enjoyed splashing through the water and generally playing as they walked! It was another matter whenever a car came along as we had to find refuge to avoid being drenched.<\/p>\n

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We arrived at St Brides Netherwent (circa 1290), an isolated church with snowdrops in the churchyard and a claim for the oldest inscribed bell in Wales. The inscription is \u2018Ave Maria Gracia Plena, one like a pot and the other like a pan\u2019 with other embellishments. The bell is still rung to call people to worship 700 years after it was made. There was a very smart steel doored toilet in the corner of the churchyard which was available for use.<\/p>\n

Continuing along the flooded road, we arrived at the back of Magor services which was a bit smelly as their bins were lined up near our track. Now we were going slightly uphill and soon moved onto a footpath heading towards Pencoed castle.<\/p>\n

There are extensive renovations taking place at the Grade II listed, Pencoed castle and it looked markedly different from the last time we passed it. We hunkered down near one of its boundary walls to eat our lunch and enjoy the castle and its surroundings.<\/p>\n

According to Wales Online, the castle was sold for \u00a31.1m in 2020 and there are extensive plans for its development. It is estimated that the castle was built between 1500 and 1560 and for generations belonged to the Morgan family from Tredegar, who built a large mansion on the medieval site. More recently a coal owner and politician, D. A. Thomas, restored the mansion for his adored daughter and her husband. The\u00a0coal owner died before the work was complete and soon after his daughter divorced. In 2016, a farmer turned property developer, Peter Morgan, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his girlfriend, Georgina Symonds, a dancer and personal escort at the castle. An unfortunate building?<\/p>\n

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A dovecote in the grounds is fascinating, probably medieval and Grade II listed, all four stone walls are still standing and there is only a small opening at the top for birds to enter and leave. The doorway has a wooden lintel and stone arch above it and it has hundreds of roosting perches inside.<\/p>\n

We continued to Llandevaud, crossed the common and then walked across fields back to Pencoed farm. We rounded off the walk with tea at St Mellons Garden centre. Walk 6.7m 500ft Map OL14<\/p>\n

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Penhow   Penhow – As you read this the weather will be sunny and warmer (I hope), but we undertook this walk towards the end of all that winter rain. We parked on the A48 near Penhow, taking a footpath to Penhow castle. Our route took in Penhow Castle farm, passing Magor services on M4, Pencoed castle and back to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s6cWjO-14251","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9019,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9019","url_meta":{"origin":14251,"position":0},"title":"Ogmore by Sea Walk","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st January 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Ogmore We walked in the Ogmore area several times last year, using the Vale Trails leaflet no.1 \u2018Ogmore by Sea Walk\u2019 as a basis for our routes and starting from St Brides Major. From here we walked past St Bridget\u2019s Church and were soon on footpaths leading onto Ogmore Down.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Picture2a.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16125,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=16125","url_meta":{"origin":14251,"position":1},"title":"Castell Carreg Cennen","author":"Alan Williams","date":"2nd October 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Castell Carreg Cennen Castell Carreg Cennen We parked in the castle car park, near Llandeilo, and were thrilled to spot a kite soaring directly above us as we donned our boots. The castle and farm are currently owned by the Llewelyn family, but the castle is managed by Cadw. 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Thanks must go to Betty for organising the tickets and transport. Our final meeting was a talk by Phil Bowen on Carisbrooke Castle. Phil has spoken to the group on previous occasions and so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tuesday Group"","block_context":{"text":"Tuesday Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=43"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1043,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=1043","url_meta":{"origin":14251,"position":3},"title":"‘CAPABILITY\u2019 BROWN","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th October 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"DID LANCELOT \u2018CAPABILITY\u2019 BROWN EVER VISIT WENVOE? The August edition of Wenvoe What\u2019s On contained a fascinating article on Wenvoe Castle. The grounds surrounding the castle are listed Grade II by Cadw (the Welsh Government\u2019s historic environment service) because the layout and surviving planting are of national interest. Some of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe History Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe History Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=40"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6227,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=6227","url_meta":{"origin":14251,"position":4},"title":"Castell Carreg Cennin","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th July 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Castell Carreg Cennin Our destination was near Llandeilo so after a long drive we arrived at Castell Carreg Cennin and were soon booted up and on our way. 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