A fairytale castle in the woods, Castel Coch embodies a glorious Victorian dream of the Middle Ages. It was created by the brilliant eccentric architect William Burges for the third Lord Bute, a fellow lover of the medieval and reputedly the richest man in the world. A companion country retreat for Bute's medieval fantasy palace at Cardiff Castle, it was begun in 1875 on the site of the 13th century "Red Castle" ("Welsh Castell Coch").

There Burges built his scholarly Victorian ideal of a castle, complete with fully operational portcullis and drawbridge and crowned by startling but enchanting conical roofs - a feature based on French and Swiss originals.

Within its authentic-looking walls, however, he gave free reign to his exuberantly creative imagination. Thus the wonderful ceiling of the Drawing Rooms is thronged with birds, butterflies and stars, while its walls are painted with Aesop's Fables. Every room and every furnishing continues the fantasy, and Lady Bute's double-doomed Sleeping Beauty bedroom is even equipped with a "medieval" washstand, its tanks concealed in battlemented turrents.

Rarely used and still perfectly preserved, this Victorian extravaganza must be seen to be believed. Its servants' hall houses an exhibition about the buildings of Bute and Burges, and visitors can walk, ride or picnic in the now mature woodlands planted as a backdrop for their dream castle.