Hensol Castle dates back to at least 1419. From its early days to the present, a succession of different owners have altered, improved and added their own individual tastes and designs.
The Hensol estate was first found to be owned by the Jenkins family (1419-1721). Judge David Jenkins was a man of great force and character and was known as a staunch Royalist. He took an active part against the Parliamentarians during the Civil War where he condemned several to death for activities deemed treasonable. Consequently he was captured and sent to the Tower of London and in 1648 he was brought before the House of Commons but refused to kneel at the bar and as a result fined ?1,000.
In 1721 the estate was passed onto Charles Talbot through his marriage with the Jenkins heiress, Cecil Jenkins. In 1733 he was made Lord Chancellor and raised to the peerage with the title of Baron Talbot of Hensol. His son, William Talbot was thought to have great affection for Hensol and was responsible for laying out and starting the landscaping of the grounds and altering the external appearance of the house. It was the Talbot family that castellated the mansion and so Hensol Castle was born.