A stunning Welsh castle opens its doors

It’s not often a new venue opens its door with such a prestigious history. And they don’t much more steeped in history than St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan. Home of Atlantic College it is now available for weddings and private events.

This imposing medieval castle stands above the Bristol Channel in the south of the rich agricultural lands of the Vale of Glamorgan. It is located on the side of a steep wooded valley with terraced gardens sloping southwards down to the sea.

The Castle’s landscaped gardens with views over the Bristol Channel date from the 1500s and have been noted as one of the finest Renaissance gardens in Wales. The gardens include an ornate ‘beast’ garden housing heraldic emblems which are also found in Windsor Castle and Hampton Court. Below the ‘beast garden’ are the rose garden and blue garden and from these it is only a few yards to the seafront.

And in case you thought that was a typo – yes, they do indeed have a ‘Beast garden’ consisting a range of weird and wonderful gargoyle like sculptures.

Dating from the 13th century the Castle has had several owners including the Stradling family who occupied the Castle for over 400 years from 1280 and in the 1920s and 30s, the American newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst.

During Hearst’s ownership the Castle was visited by many well know media and political figures such as Charlie Chaplin, Clarke Gable, George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill. Hearst made several alterations to the Castle which saw the creation of a dining hall to seat up to 300 guests and another hall complete with a wooden ceiling dating from 1320 to accommodate numbers of 150/200. It was Hearst too who installed a heated outdoor swimming-pool and three tennis courts.

So you can rest assured – if it was good enough for multi millionaire tycoon William Randolph Hearst it should be good enough for your wedding guests on the big day.

For more information about this new venue – or to enquire about availability contact the venue organiser Karen Davies via their listing on WeddingVenues.com.

Update: Two friends of the WedingVenues.com recently visited and then immediately booked Donat’s Castle after an extensive search of South Wales – their reaction after visiting the venue?

“Stunning!”