About
Tretower Court and Castle, Llys a Chastell Tretwr, is a two-in-one architectural wonder spanning 900 years in the Usk valley. Across the castle green stands the great round tower built by Roger Picard II, its walls nine feet thick in imitation of Pembroke and Skenfrith, so striking that the castle became known as the place of the tower. The court replaced it as a residence from about 1300 and was rebuilt by Sir Roger Vaughan, one of the most powerful men in Wales during the Wars of the Roses, whose fine wines drew the medieval Welsh poets; its great hall is laid out for a feast of the 1460s, and the recreated 15th-century garden grows the white roses of his Yorkist loyalty. The visitor centre fills the original 15th-century barn. Reviewers love the hands-on interiors and family activities, advise taking the audio guide because signage is sparse, and say to leave time for the tower. Dogs on short leads may explore the ground floors and garden.
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- Tretower Court and Castle10:00 – 17:00last admission 16:30
Opening times may change at short notice.
30 March to 1 November 10am to 5pm daily; 2 November to 29 March 10am to 4pm, Wednesday to Sunday (closed Mondays and Tuesdays). Last admission 30 minutes before closing. Closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January. Cadw may close monuments at short notice in extreme weather.
Notices (October 2026): filming takes place from 26 October to 6 November 2026 and the site is closed to all visitors on Wednesday 4 November; the Y Bwyty Bach cafe in the barn is closed until further notice.
Terrain level 2, easy: wide automatic doors and low desks in the barn; across the road, a cobbled courtyard (uncomfortable for wheelchairs) and level paths on the lawns, with most of the court's ground floor reachable with walking aids and wheelchairs and the first floor only by several narrow, steep stairs with handrails; the garden through a narrow ramped gate or a wider one opened on request, with a tunnel arbour to a raised viewing platform up three steps; the castle across the grassed green and a mound through a latch gate (not passable with a wheelchair), with a short climb, a wooden stair to the basement and a stone spiral to the first floor, open to the sky and slippery when wet, inside a working farm with small livestock. Two toilets in the visitor centre (one accessible, one with baby changing) and a toilet block with an accessible toilet behind the court's north range. Audio guide in Welsh and English to buy (free for Cadw members), portable induction loop, defibrillator, dog bowl, picnic benches in the garden (moved for weddings and filming), video presentation, gift shop with guidebooks, Tretower Court Cottage holiday let. A small stream behind the gardens can overflow after heavy rain. Drones are not permitted.
Dogs: Dogs on short leads are welcome on the ground floors of the court and castle; upstairs is for assistance dogs only. The courtyard, garden, orchard and castle green inside the ticketed site are open to dogs on leads; a dog bowl is provided, and the castle sits in a working farm with small livestock.
Photo: The great round tower of Tretower Castle rising from the ruined shell keep, with the Usk valley hills beyond. Rosser1954, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tretower_Castle,_Powys,_Wales.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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