THOUSANDS of pirates descended on Tredegar House today for its annual pirate day extravaganza.

Pirates, raiders and scallywags alike made the most of the spring sun to ransack treasure from one of the city’s most iconic sites.

The event, which is now in its fourth year, had a range of games on offer, including walking the plank and plonking the pirate.

This year’s offering paid tribute to the golden age of pirating in honour of Tredegar House’s very own captain Henry Morgan.

Harriet O’Brien, events and programming officer, said: “The whole team has been gearing up for the event; perfecting their pirate lingo and getting their costumes ready.

"This is without doubt one of the most loved events on the Tredegar House calendar and it has firmly established itself as a tradition for Newport families.

"The number of visitors coming to pirate day has doubled since its launch in 2013 and last year we saw nearly 2,000 pirates invade our grounds."