Caldicot Castle lies southwest of the River Wye, which has been a natural boundary of strategic significance from the Iron Age through the Norman period. Caldicot stands on a fortified site of great antiquity, two miles from the sea and on the route of the Roman road Via Julia, in a valley surrounded by marshlands.

Even though the foundations date as far back as Norman times, the keep was probably built by the powerful de Bohun family after they inherited the lordship in 1221. It was one of nine new castles that Edward I (1277-1283), the first English king to take effective control of Wales built to consolidate his power...