The Medieval Caldicot Castle sits within the Caldicot Country Park, is owned and run by Chepstow Rural District Coucil, and at the time of writing (Jan 2022)entry is free. There is a car park very near the main entrance and parking is also free.

The Castle was built around 1100 and this picture shows the very imposing Gatehouse or main entrance.

The castle sits in the 55 acre Country Park through which the River Nedern winds its way. The castle closes for the winter months and, when open, does not open until 11.00 AM.

There is an easy walk close to the castle walls around outside of the castle which gives a good view of some of the structure.

Dewstow Gardens opens only in the Summer months and appears to not be well known which leaves me baffled because it is so interesting and attractive.

There are lots of garden features and a great variety of plants.

The main unusual features of this garden are the underground grottoes where there is a labyrinth of paths, steps and ponds. In this picture it is possible to see fish and the reflections of the openings above which let in light. These garden structures have three separate Grade II listings as a result of their importance.

If you have any mobility issues then the grottoes, I'm afraid, are not for you.

Just a few miles from Caldicot is the village of Caerwent. Caerwent is a fairly unexceptional village except for one thing; it used to be the Roman market town of Venta Silurum and there is a lot of evidence of that in the local landscape.

There are building foundations, as seen in this picture, and a significant portion of the Roman Wall that surrounded the town.

The remains of the Roman wall surrounding the town are fairly extensive with the wall being up to 17 feet high. This wall is easily one of the most impressive town defences to survive from Roman Britain.

There is free CADW car park and it is possible to walk along all of the remaining stretches of wall.