Magor, Pen Coed Castle, Penhow Castle and St Bride's Netherwent

This walk visits all three, but begins in the town of Magor, which looks out over the Caldicot Level to the sparkling blue expanse of the Bristol Channel. Near the start is the ruined Procurator's House. The Procurator, a wealthy priest, well versed in law, presided here some 600 years ago, over a court that settled local disputes, rates of pay and boundaries. He also collected rents and taxes on behalf of the Church of Rome. The grandeur of his house shows that he was well rewarded.

Behind the ruins of the Procurator's House is St Mary's parish church, founded in the 7th century by St Cadwalader. A new church, with a central tower, and elaborate nave arcades adorned with 28 spirited angels, was built in the 13th century. The ivy clad remains of a late medieval priory can be seen on the north west side of the churchyard.

In the centre of Magor's pretty village square, enclosed by colourful washed buildings, is a huge war memorial. A handsome bronze medallion bears a portrait of Lord Rhondda, the Welsh mine owner and Liberal politician. During World War One, he was sent to the USA to negotiate the supply of munitions.

His success there earned him a peerage. On his death in 1918, his daughter Margaret Haig Thomas, who had been arrested for suffragette activities, endeavoured to take her seat in the House of Lords, as Viscountess Rhondda. She was only prevented from doing so after protracted legal proceedings.

As you cross an open field, Wilcrick Hill Iron Age Fort rises beyond the M4 motorway to your left. Away to your right is Upper Grange Farm, which was once owned by the monks of Tintern Abbey.

Pen-coed Castle was once the stronghold of a Norman Knight, Sir Richard de la More, though the majority of the buildings seen today dates from the reign of Henry VIII. In the early 1900's it was part of the vast Herrick Estates of Leicester. Sophie Perry-Herrick, the Lady of the Manor, was a staunch teetotaller. She closed many of the pubs in Magor, including the Red House, the Half Moon, the Bell Inn and the Rock and Fountain. Following her death in 1915, the castle became the property of Lord Rhondda, who was responsible for the modern extensions completed in 1920.

Today, Pen-coed is abandoned, not yet beyond reprieve, but quietly crumbling with each passing year. Himalayan balsam, red campion and wall pennywort colonised fissures in the paved courtyard, and jackdaws tumble in exuberant aerobatics between the decaying embattlements of its once mighty towers. The broken outlines of the castle and its ruined Tudor dovecote are an evocative sight.

Coed Wen, a semi natural wood managed as a nature reserve, stretches out along the slopes of a dry limestone valley. Coppicing has been reintroduced to encourage indigenous ash, field maple, wild cherry, and wych elm. Mighty oaks, limes and yews form a dense canopy over a woodland floor carpeted with enchanters nightshade, bluebells, dogs mercury and wood anemones, as well as less common species such as Tintern spurge, wild daffodil, green hellibore, lesser periwinkle and bird's nest orchid. All are indicators of ancient woodland.

The path winds uphill onto rich farmland. On warm summer days, ripening ears of wheat whisper in the breeze, and a swaying field full of pale blue flax makes a truly unforgettable sight.

Penhow Castle and its church stand on the brow of a hill. In the early 12th century, most of Wales was controlled by local princes. The town of Chepstow was a rare Norman stronghold, defended by a surrounding ring of knights castles. In 1129, Henry I entitled one of these knights, Roger de St Maur, to seize Penhow Castle from its native prince as a reward for his help in suppressing the Welsh. The St Maur (or Seymour) line prospered, and they became one of the most noble families in the land, making their home at Penhow for around 400 years.

In the early 18th century, the castle had declined into a rather grandiose farmhouse owned by absentee landlords. Its fortunes were to fall further. By 1966 it was virtually derelict, the impressive spiral staircase, magnificent lower hall and Norman Tower were little more than filth encrusted chicken ruins, granaries and apple stores. In that year, writer and film director Stephen Weeks bought Penhow and set about gradually restoring it. The carpentry and masonry skills of past centuries were employed in a painstaking attempt to recreate the castle's authentic original atmosphere.

During Stephen Weeks' tenure, the castle was open to the public, while also serving as his residence. In 2002, it was sold and reverted to a private home. Penhow is frequently claimed to be the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Wales.

The Church of Penhow Castle was founded by the Normans, and rebuilt in 1914, though the top still bears its distinctive arrow loops, an effective rearguard defence if the castle was under attack. An inscribed tombstone in the porch commemorates one Elizabeth Tamplin, who died in 1783 of the remarkable age of 111. Inside, an unusual stone chancel screen was recut earlier this century. The columns on the south aisle still bear the marks of 18th century box pews, whose high sides helped keep out the worst of the draughts.

Down the quiet lane at the heart of St Brides Valley is a lonely parish church, built in the 1800's, but with a history dating back to the early 10th century. The inscribed angelus bell is dedicated to St Bridget. The many miracles of this Irish saint include changing stones into honey, ashes into butter, and the Lord Mayor of London into a horse.

The graveyard is all a country churchyard should be. It's timeworn yews once furnished longbows to the archers of the South Welsh Borderers. These marksmen fought in English armies against the French at Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt, and also against the Scots.

A few grassy tumps in an adjacent field are all that remain of the once prosperous medieval village of St Bride's Netherwent. The distinct mounds of houses congregate along a central hollow that marks the sunken village's main street. Nobody knows for certain how the community was wiped out, though it may have happened as early as the mid 14th century, when the Black Death swept through Europe.

Further down the lane on the way back to Magor, you passed Salisbury Farm, a 17th century building, away to your right.