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Plans to redevelop parts of the Ruperra Castle estate should be rejected, campaigners have said.
The owners of Ruperra Castle, near Draethen, want to turn the stables near the castle into seven ‘residential units’ and move a bat roost onto the former kitchen greenhouse on the site.
But campaigners from the Ruperra Castle Preservation Trust say the plans would have an “unacceptable impact” on the Grade II* listed site
However, a decision will not be made until after the council elections, which will take place on May 5.
What are the plans?
The plans were submitted to Caerphilly County Borough Council back in September 2019 by the owners of the castle, Hyder and Victoria Al-Khafaji.
The owners have submitted two applications to the council. The first application includes conservation repairs on the former dairy and laundry buildings, as well as converting the stables into seven flats – which would require the removal of a bat roost.
The second application includes repairs on the former kitchen greenhouse, which would be used to rehouse the bat roost.
However, there are no submitted plans for the castle itself, which remains in a dilapidated state following the fire which gutted it back in December 1941.
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What do campaigners think?
Members of the Ruperra Castle Preservation Trust, which was set up in 1996 with the aim of buying and preserving the castle, have objected to the applications.
Kay Powell, Chair of the Perseveration Trust, told Caerphilly Observer: “This has been going on for two and a half years already.
“We’ve put in our objections. We’re concerned about the negative impact this would have on the main building on the site and the effect on the whole setting and landscape around the castle.
“We’re concerned that nothing has happened with the castle itself – it’s a deteriorated, ruined building. I’m amazed it’s still standing.
“We’re disappointed there are no proposals to do anything with it.”
Ms Powell continued: “The application should be refused. We want a rethink.
“We want a better future for Ruperra Castle. It has a lot of history and heritage which needs to be celebrated.
There are also worries on the potential impact on wildlife in the area, particularly bats – which favour dark and quiet places.
The Ruperra Castle Conservation Trust has also submitted objections to the applications.
History of Ruperra Castle
The castle was once part of the Tredegar Estate, which covered 53,000 acres – the equivalent to more than 35,000 football pitches.
In 1875, Crimea War veteran Godfrey Morgan became Lord Tredegar. He then moved from Ruperra Castle to live in Tredegar House, Newport, as was tradition for whoever held the Lord Tredegar title, while his brother, Freddie, resided at Ruperra Castle.
After Freddie’s death in 1909, his son, Courtenay, continued to live at the castle and maintained it for his son, Evan, to inherit.
But Courtenay lived a lavish lifestyle and after his death in 1934, there were three large death duties to be paid.
This, coupled with the economic downturn meant the castle and its 3,000 acre grounds were put up for sale – but there were no offers to buy it.
With the threat of war looming, the Ministry of Defence saw the castle as an ideal location to accommodate and train soldiers, due to its size and location close to the Bristol Channel.
Base for soldiers
The first soldiers to move into the castle were from the Cardiff Territorial Army, which formed the Royal Corps of Signals when the outbreak of war seemed imminent.
They were to be trained as dispatch riders and to service the cars and transport needed.
Once the Royal Corps of Signals were trained and ready for action, the regiment moved out of the castle in June 1940, with a Royal Army Service Corps bakery unit moving in soon after.
Norman Baxter, who was from Gillingham, was part of the army bakery that moved into Ruperra Castle.
Having been sent to Normandy to hold back the Nazis, the bakers were ordered to evacuate from Dunkirk and return to Britain as the Nazis advanced through France.
They then headed to Ruperra Castle, via Hereford, where they were given blankets to sleep on the floor. They weren’t able to do any baking at Ruperra as all their equipment had been left in Normandy.
But while at Ruperra, the bakers still had to get up in the early hours to do drills in preparation for a possible Nazi invasion of the UK.
Between August and October 1940, a battalion of Dutch soldiers – the Princess Irene Brigade – were stationed at the castle.
A number of these soldiers had escaped the Netherlands before the Nazis had invaded.
Soldiers from the Royal Army Medical Corps were also trained at Ruperra, while soldiers from the British Indian Army were also based at Ruperra for a time.
Fire and legacy
Luckily, nobody was killed in the fire, but there were reports of injuries.
The fire was caused by an electrical fault, with the wet weather halting the spread of the fire to nearby farmland.
The next morning, the world woke up to news of Japan’s surprise military attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, which resulted in the United States entering the war.
Despite the fire, the castle still remained a key training base during the war, with soldiers staying in the stables next to the castle’s burned-out shell, while other soldiers were provided with tents and nissen huts and stayed in the castle itself, sleeping on the floor.
In 1981, the castle’s south east tower fell down.
The castle is currently privately-owned. In 1998, it was bought by businessman Ashraf Barakat, who wanted to knock it down to build luxury flats. These plans were rejected in 2009, and so Mr Barakat sold the site.
In 2019, the current owners submitted controversial plans to turn the stable blocks next to the castle into flats, which would have required moving a protected bat roost. These plans were criticised by the Ruperra Castle Preservation Trust.
To mark the 80th anniversary of the fire, the Ruperra Castle Preservation Trust organised a drama performance, which was held at the United Services Club in Machen on March 3 – having been pushed back three months due to Covid.
The hour-long performance brought to life the recollections of soldiers based at the castle during the war. It was performed by Caerphilly-based theatre group Cwmni Cwm Ni.
For more information on Ruperra Castle, visit ruperracastle.weebly.com or go to the Preservation Trust’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
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