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St Fagans Castle is a Grade 1 listed building. It’s called a castle to this day because it was built on the ruins of an old Norman motte and bailey castle. The present mansion house was built around 1580, in the shape of an ‘E’, as was the fashion during the reign of Elizabeth I. It was the first symmetrical building in south Wales at the time. In 1946 the Castle, together with eighteen acres of land, was donated by the Earl of Plymouth to the National Museum of Wales as a site for a national open-air museum. The earliest castle on this site was built by Norman lord Robert le Sore in the 1100s. During the 1300s, this timber and earth motte and bailey castle was rebuilt in stone. The present house was begun by a local lawyer, Dr John Gibbon, in 1580, though he may never have actually lived here.

The house and estate were purchased in 1616 by Caerphilly, and it was Edward and his wife Blanche who completed many of the internal fittings of the building in 1620. Their initials EBL and the date 1620 can be seen on panelling and on firebacks within the building. The connection with the Earls of Plymouth began in 1730 when the Lewis heiress, Elizabeth, married Other, third Earl of Plymouth and ninth Baron Windsor. Edward Lewis of Y Fan, Caerphilly, and it was Edward and his wife Blanche who completed many of the internal fittings of the building in 1620. Their initials EBL and the date 1620 can be seen on panelling and on firebacks within the building. The connection with the Earls of Plymouth began in 1730 when the Lewis heiress, Elizabeth, married Other, third Earl of Plymouth and ninth Baron Windsor.

The house was rented out to various tenants during the 1700s and was later used for temporary accommodation by local people, including the local schoolmaster, who kept school in the withdrawing room.

Many families have lived in the Castle over the years, but it is the story of the Windsor-Clive family which is told here today. Between 1885 and 1910 Lord Windsor, father of the Earl of Plymouth, spent his summer holidays at the Castle with his wife and four children. While the Lord and his sons enjoyed playing cricket for the village team, Lady Windsor was fond of sketching in the Italian garden. A host of staff were needed to run the Castle when the family was in residence – around 40 in total, including a cook, a steward, a butler, and kitchen and laundry maids. These servants travelled with the family from one residence to another. When the family returned to their usual home – Hewell Grange, in Worcestershire – only the housekeeper and some of the maids stayed to look after the Castle.

Thousands of pounds were spent on refurbishment work during the Windsor Clive’s time at the Castle. This included installing an electric light system worked by water pumped from the village corn mill.