# Treago Castle > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Treago_Castle > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Treago_Castle.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treago_Castle > Source revision: 1344149423 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Castle in St Weonards, Herefordshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Refimprove|date=July 2007}} thumb|right|Treago Castle, seen from the gates '''Treago Castle''' is a [fortified manor house](/source/fortified_manor_house) in the parish of [St Weonards](/source/St_Weonards), [Herefordshire](/source/Herefordshire), England ({{gbmapping|SO48922396}}). Built c. 1500, it was recorded as a [Grade I listed building](/source/Grade_I_listed_building) on 30 April 1986—based on its extant [medieval architecture](/source/medieval_architecture), [quadrangle](/source/quadrangle_(architecture)) [courtyard](/source/courtyard) layout and [defensive wall](/source/defensive_wall) corner towers.{{cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1099712|title=Detailed Record #155265|work=historicengland.org.uk|publisher=English Heritage|accessdate=2009-08-29|quote=Date listed: 30 April 1986 ... Included Grade I for the surviving medieval fabric and plan form.}}{{cite web|url=http://www.parksandgardens.ac.uk/component/option,com_parksandgardens/task,site/id,5759/tab,summary/Itemid,292/|title=Treago, St. Weonards, Herefordshire, England|date=2008-11-24|accessdate=2009-08-29|publisher=Parks and Gardens Data Services|location=[University of York](/source/University_of_York)|quote=Record Id: 5759 ... Treago is a fortified house of the 15th century.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226090424/http://www.parksandgardens.ac.uk/component/option,com_parksandgardens/task,site/id,5759/tab,summary/Itemid,292/|archive-date=2012-02-26|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.fortifiedengland.com/Home/Categories/ViewItem/tabid/61/Default.aspx?IID=667|title=Treago Castle|first=Susan|last=Rennie|publisher=Fortified England|year=2009|accessdate=2009-08-29|quote=Medieval moated fortified house, enclosure. Quadrangular towers at corners.|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711021117/http://www.fortifiedengland.com/Home/Categories/ViewItem/tabid/61/Default.aspx?IID=667|archivedate=2011-07-11}}{{cite web|url=http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=107699|title=Treago Castle, Monument number: 107699|work=Pastscape|publisher=[English Heritage](/source/English_Heritage)|accessdate=2009-08-29|quote=Fortified house of square courtyard plan with corner towers and tower porch. Listed grade I|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728103938/http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=107699|archive-date=2011-07-28|url-status=dead}} The castle remains a private family residence.{{Cite web |title=Picnics and Opera at Treago Castle |url=https://www.hhct.co.uk/picnics-and-opera-at-treago-castle/ |access-date=2026-01-03 |website=Herefordshire Historic Churches Trust |language=en-US}} Digging on the site revealed solid bedrock. ==Main building== The building was probably built by Sir Richard Mynors (c. 1440–1528{{cite web|publisher=[Herefordshire Council](/source/Herefordshire_Council)|url=http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/hsmr/db.php?smr_no=6255|title=Historic Building #6255: Treago Castle|date = 2 March 2015}} {{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FRw9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA586|pages=586–587|chapter=West Midlands and the Borderland with Wales (Treago Castle, Herefordshire)|series=Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500|volume=II|title=East Anglia, Central England and Wales|first=Anthony|last=Emery|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-521-58131-8|accessdate=2010-01-10}}), a tax collector in Wales. The name originates from "Tre" (homestead or farm) and "Ago" (''{{lang|cy|Iago}}'' being the [Welsh](/source/Welsh_language) form of the name "[James](/source/James_(given_name))"), suggesting there was a previous dwelling on the land. Another theory is that the name is derived from the hamlet of Treiago in [Cornwall](/source/Cornwall), because the heiress of John of Treiago, [sheriff of Cornwall](/source/sheriff_of_Cornwall) in the 1320s, married a Mynors in the reign of [Edward IV](/source/Edward_IV) {{cite web | title=Magna Britannia: Volume 3, Cornwall | url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/magna-britannia/vol3/lxiv-lxxii |access-date=2026-02-17}}. The fortified house was built to keep [the Welsh](/source/Welsh_people) out, but was never under attack. Originally the building was of a secure design, featuring a central courtyard and no externally facing windows. Later, the courtyard area in the centre of the building was covered over in stages and new windows added to the outside walls, forming a more traditional house. [Mason's mark](/source/Mason's_mark)s matching those at [Raglan Castle](/source/Raglan_Castle) and traced to [William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke](/source/William_Herbert%2C_1st_Earl_of_Pembroke_(1551_creation)), were detected following a visit in 1975 by the Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments, [A. J. Taylor](/source/A._J._Taylor). There are similarities to [Croft Castle](/source/Croft_Castle), also in Herefordshire.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=47iheRUGKIEC&pg=PA102|page=102|title=English Castles: A Guide by Counties|first=Adrian|last=Pettifer|year=2000|quote=... it is a late medieval walled quadrangle, resembling Croft Castle in overall effect ... | isbn=978-0-85115-782-5 | publisher=Boydell & Brewer}} Whilst Treago Castle remains a private family home local charity events allow the public a limited opportunity to view inside the castle. ===Estate and gardens=== Surrounding the main buildings is [parkland](/source/Park), probably landscaped during the late 18th century. There is no indication of a [moat](/source/moat), although early plans of the estate do show a [leat](/source/leat) following the contour line across the estate, to the adjacent Furnace Farm. The parkland grounds became neglected for a period between the 1790s and 1840s. Four major improvements were constructed after c. 1840: * [Walled garden](/source/Walled_garden) near the road, separated from the house by a [shrubbery](/source/shrubbery) collection named ''The Wilderness''. * Walled [kitchen garden](/source/kitchen_garden) furnished with well stocked fruit trees, on the site of the modern-day vineyard and to the south of the house. * [Tudor](/source/Tudor_period)/[Italianate style](/source/Italianate_architecture)d garden containing gravel paths, grass, flower beds and clipped [Irish yew](/source/Taxus_baccata) trees. Referred to as ''Treago Garden'' on [tithe maps](/source/tithe_maps) from the period. * A long [driveway](/source/driveway), forming a new principal entrance to the property approaching from the east. Since 1991, the roses planted in the grounds have been primarily [David C. H. Austin](/source/David_C._H._Austin) English [rose](/source/rose)s. ===Recent history=== During the 1990s, the original stables area received renovation work, being converted into three connected cottages named ''Hollyhock'', ''Coach House'' and ''Looseboxes'' that now see continual use as weekly holiday cottages. At the same time, a modern 11-metre indoor heated [swimming pool](/source/swimming_pool) was added and other renovations were carried out including of a [grand piano](/source/Piano). Behind the cottages and main building are a joint garden and small [quarry](/source/quarry), traces of a [Japanese garden](/source/Japanese_garden) and [vineyard](/source/vineyard) used for producing ''Treago'' branded award-winningSouth West Vineyard Association awards 2005 [http://englishwineproducers.com/SWVACompetition2005.htm Section B, Class 6 category: "Highly commended": Treago, Sparkling 2003] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070827004130/http://www.englishwineproducers.com/SWVACompetition2005.htm |date=2007-08-27 }} red, white and [sparkling wine](/source/sparkling_wine)s.{{cite news|url=http://www.herefordshirelife.co.uk/a-noble-nose--192211|title=A noble nose|work=Herefordshire Life|publisher=Archant Life Limited|date=June 2008|pages=110–113}}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }} A [fountain](/source/fountain) was added in 1990, designed and made by Vanessa Marston, using ideas from the Mynors family [crest](/source/crest_(heraldry)). The Mynors' crest—a man's hand holding a [bear](/source/bear)'s paw—is derived from the [French](/source/French_language) sound a like ''{{lang|fr|main ours}}'' ({{langx|en|bear hand}}). {{As of|2009}} initiatives were underway to heat the castle in a more "green" way, using ground-source [geothermal heat pump](/source/geothermal_heat_pump) and compost-based [biomass heating systems](/source/biomass_heating_systems). The addition of a north porch has helped the process of making Treago an all-year-round family home. ==Mynors family association== The Mynors family has owned Treago since c. 1500. [Sir Roger A. B. Mynors](/source/R._A._B._Mynors) inhabited the estate in his last years. The house is still owned by the Baskerville Mynors family and currently inhabited by Sir Richard Mynors (b. 1947)—the present holder of the [Mynors of Treago Baronetcy](/source/Mynors_Baronets) and [vintner](/source/vintner)—and his wife Lady Fiona Mynors who works as an [educational consultant](/source/educational_consultant). The couple have inhabited the main building since 1989, along with their three daughters: Alexandra, Frances and Victoria. As a result of the move, major restoration and modernisation work took place. Although some family history can be traced back to the 11th century, the direct association between the Baskerville Mynors and the local area of St. Weonards is only recorded back to the mid-15th century, around the time of the construction of the present building. ==Other uses of the name== In 1932, the [Great Western Railway](/source/Great_Western_Railway) named steam engine No. 5019 ''Treago Castle''.{{cite book|title=Steam nostalgia: locomotive and railway preservation in Great Britain|first=Gerald|last=Nabarro|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I5E9AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA66|page=66|quote=No.: 5019, Original name: "Treago Castle", Built: 7.32, Withdrawn: 9.62|year=1970|publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-0-7100-7391-4}} The ''[Castle Class](/source/GWR_4073_Class)'' locomotive continued to carry this name for 30 years, before finally being withdrawn in 1962. ==References== {{reflist}} {{refbegin}} {{refend}} ==External links== * {{commons category-inline|Treago}} {{coord|51.9114|-2.7425|type:landmark_region:GB-HEF_source:enwiki-osgb36(SO48922396)|display=title}} Category:Castles in Herefordshire Category:Country houses in Herefordshire Category:Grade I listed buildings in Herefordshire Category:Grade I listed houses Category:Houses completed in the 15th century --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Treago Castle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treago_Castle) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treago_Castle?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.