Casemate 77

Chepstow Castle with Chepstow Bulwarks Camp and Runston Church:

Rick Turner MA FSA and J K Knight BA FSA. PB, 56pp. Many colour photographs and drawings, maps, prints and diagrams. ISBN1.85760.229.3. £3.50. Published by CADW, 2006 (revised edition).

Rick Turner is the author of the castle guide, and J K Knight that of the Camp and the Church.

CADW guides have always been a pleasure to study and this latest one is no exception. The glossy paper ensures that the maximum benefit is gained from the very many illustrations. These are sharp and clear, whether taken from a medieval manuscript or as photographs or drawings. Credit for these is sometimes missed, so praise for the site photographer Paul Highnam and the two illustrators, Terry Ball and Chris Jones-Jenkins.

The guide has two principal parts; a history of the castle from its Norman origins to modern times, describing the links with the Marshall and Bigod families and its part in the Civil War, not neglecting the intervening periods. The second part is the descriptive tour of the castle.

The tour is very comprehensive as one would expect. It demonstrates the links which connect Chepstow to such buildings as Framlingham Castle and La Ziza in Palermo. As the ground plan is inside the back cover and folds out, it is easy to follow while consulting another page. I was especially taken with the three special sections on the Castle Doors, Building Stones at Chepstow and Gloriettes respectively. All illustrations are accompanied by detailed explanatory notes and the text runs lucidly and smoothly throughout.

J K Knight's contributions make for an agreeable coda to a visit to Chepstow Castle, both his sites being within easy reach of the town, and each having its own particular appeal. Knight does them justice in brief but cogent descriptions, accompanied by photographs and plans.

If I have one grumble about this guide it is with the binding. A few minutes handling made the front cover work loose - I doubt if it would have survived a full-length in-depth tour. This is not the first time a binding has weakened on a CADW guide for me, but perhaps I've just been unlucky.

Gil Dowdall-Brown.