History
Mrs. Matilda Jones (died 1874) of Ancre Hill financed the Institutes construction. [5] It opened its doors on 15 October 1868 following a procession to Ancre Hill, then the home of Matilda Jones, of working men headed by a Military band and accompanied by the friendly Societies with their banners. The purpose of the construction was to provide a library and reading lessons for the working class. The books were transferred from St Johns Street where Matilda Jones had been offering a private room for reading. The building included a Reading room, library, gallery, committee room and lecture hall. [4]
A song was composed for the workmen to sing during its construction: O may our institute succeed,And prove to men a boon indeed.May many hearts receive the seedOf saving the truth. [4] Another song which was sung at each general meeting was: Hurrah for the men who work
According to Keith Kissack some of the lectures may have been hard going with a programme of 1892/3 a selection being Hommer, Drink Work & Wages, Queens English, The Family Circle, The Solar System, French Salons, Fossils, Egypt, The War of The Roses, Cathedrals in Britain Most of the lectures lasted about two hours and were followed by the chairman's remarks and thanks. Many of the lectures made use of Magic Lanterns for their opening. [4]
In 1881 a meeting of teachers in the Institute elected to set up a Branch of the National Union of Elementary Teachers because they were unhappy being excluded from decision making in the schools. [4] In 1885 the Church of England Temperance Society had offices in the building. Its members used the building when distributing petitions in favor of Sunday Closing and that flower shows were an antidote to alcohol. [4] In 1890 the winter was particularly harsh with 56 consecutive days of frost. This led to the setting up of a Soup Kitchen in the Institute. [4] In 1907 a series of Saturday Pop Concerts was held in the institute performed by the local regimental band. [4]
The building has been Grade II Listed since 8 October 2005. The more recent uses for the premises have been an Art shop, Gallery and Framing Company. [6] [7]
Monmouth School for Boys is a public school for boys in Monmouth, Wales. The school was founded in 1614 with a bequest from William Jones, a successful merchant and trader. The School is run as a trust, the William Jones's Schools Foundation, by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the livery companies, and has close links to its sister school, Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls. In 2018, the Haberdashers renamed their group of schools in the town, the Monmouth Schools, and made corresponding changes to the names of the boys' and girls' schools.
The Shire Hall, Monmouth, Wales, is a prominent building on Agincourt Square in the town centre. It was built in 1724, and was formerly the centre for the Assize Courts and Quarter Sessions for Monmouthshire. The building was also used as a market place. In 1839–40, the court was the location of the trial of the Chartist leader John Frost and others for high treason for their part in the Newport Rising.
Troy House is a Welsh historic house, on a "ducal" scale, north-east of Mitchel Troy, Monmouthshire. The original house belonged to Blanche Herbert, Lady Troy, of the Herbert family of Raglan Castle, who owned great estates in South Wales as Marquesses of Worcester and later Dukes of Beaufort. The present structure, overlooking the River Trothy was constructed from 1681 to 1684 as a wedding present for Charles Somerset by his father, Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort. Troy House is a Grade II* listed building and its gardens and park are listed, also at Grade II*, on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
William Jones was a London haberdasher, born in Newland, Gloucestershire, England. He is remembered for his bequests, which led to the establishment of schools in Monmouth and Pontypool, almshouses at Newland, and the so-called "Golden Lectureship" in London.
The King's Head Hotel is a hotel standing opposite the Shire Hall in Glyndŵr Street, Agincourt Square, Monmouth, Wales. It dates from the mid-17th century, and as one of the major inns in Monmouth was reputedly visited by Charles I of England in 1645. It has a fine black-and-white painted stone façade and became an important posting inn in the late 17th century, with a yard through an archway where visitors' horses could be stabled and where regular coach services called. In the 18th and 19th centuries, stagecoaches for London left from the inn. The range of buildings along Agincourt Street now includes the former Monmouth Bank and the County Club, while the inn itself is now part of the J D Wetherspoon pub chain. It is one of 24 buildings on the town's Heritage Trail and is a Grade II* listed building.
The Savoy Theatre, Church Street, Monmouth is a theatre and cinema, reputedly the oldest working theatre site in Wales. It has a capacity for 360 people and is run by a charitable trust. One of 24 buildings on the Monmouth Heritage Trail, the theatre is a Grade II* listed building.
St Mary's Priory Church, in Whitecross Street, Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales, is an Anglican church founded as a Benedictine priory in 1075. The current church dates mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries. It was designated a Grade II* listed building in 1952. It is one of 24 buildings on the Monmouth Heritage Trail.
St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, in St Mary's Street near the centre of Monmouth, is the earliest post-Reformation Catholic public place of worship to be permitted in Wales. The church is a late Georgian Roman Catholic church with later Victorian additions by the Catholic convert architect Benjamin Bucknall. It has been designated as a Grade II listed building since 15 August 1974, and is one of 24 buildings on the Monmouth Heritage Trail.
The Robin Hood Inn, Nos. 124 and 126, Monnow Street, Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales, is a public house of late medieval origins. It was Grade II* listed in 1952.
Monmouth Priory, in Priory Street, Monmouth, Wales, is a building that incorporates the remains of the monastic buildings attached to St Mary's Priory Church. The priory was a Benedictine foundation of 1075, and parts of the mediaeval buildings remain. The buildings were substantially redeveloped in the nineteenth century for use as St Mary's National School, and now form a community centre. The complex is a Grade II* listed building as of 27 June 1952. It is one of 24 sites on the Monmouth Heritage Trail.
The County Gaol, situated in North Parade, Monmouth, Wales, was Monmouthshire's main prison when it was opened in 1790. It served as the county jail of Monmouthshire and criminals or those who fell foul of the authorities were hanged here until the 1850s and some 3,000 people viewed the last hanging. The jail covered an area of about an acre, with a chapel, infirmary, living quarters and a treadmill. It was closed in 1869. In 1884 most of the building was demolished, and today nothing remains but the gatehouse which is a Grade II listed building. Within the gatehouse, there exists "a representation in coloured glass of the complete original buildings". It is one of 24 buildings on the Monmouth Heritage Trail.
George Vaughan Maddox was a nineteenth-century British architect and builder, whose work was undertaken principally in the town of Monmouth, Wales, and in the wider county. Working mainly in a Neo-Classical style, his extensive output made a significant contribution to the Monmouth townscape. The architectural historian John Newman considers that Monmouth owes to Maddox "its particular architectural flavour. For two decades from the mid-1820s he put up a sequence of public buildings and private houses in the town, in a style deft, cultured, and only occasionally unresolved." The Market Hall and 1-6 Priory Street are considered his "most important projects".
Monmouth Baptist Church is located in Monk Street, Monmouth, south east Wales. The church building was opened in 1907, although the Baptist congregation had been formed in 1818. The church became a Grade II listed building on 27 October 1998.
Church Street is a pedestrianised street in the centre of Monmouth, Wales. It contains a variety of independent shops, restaurants, commercial art galleries, and the Savoy Theatre. Until the 1830s, when Priory Street was built to bypass it, it was the main thoroughfare into the centre of Monmouth from the north-east, linking the market and the parish church. It was at one time the centre of the town's butchery trade and was known as Butcher's Row.
The Gatehouse, also known as The Gate House, is a public house located next to Monnow Bridge in Monmouth, Wales. The pub was known as the Barley Mow until it changed its name in 1993. It is the only public house in Monmouth located beside a river. The pub has a restaurant area, seated balcony and a function room.
Priory House is a Grade II Listed building in Monmouth, Wales.
The Nelson Rooms is a grade II listed building in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales. It is in the historic Glendower Street and Agincourt Street neighbourhood, within the medieval town walls. The building initially served as a gymnasium and was a gift from Lady Llangattock to the town of Monmouth. In 1924, after the benefactor's death, it reopened as the Nelson Museum, and showcased the collection of memorabilia related to Admiral Horatio Nelson that had been amassed by the baroness. The Nelson Museum moved to new quarters at the Market Hall in 1969. The former gymnasium and museum is now an apartment building.
1–6 Priory Street in Monmouth, Wales, is a row of six shop houses designed by the architect George Vaughan Maddox and constructed c. 1837. They form part of Maddox's redevelopment of the centre of Monmouth and stand opposite his Market Hall. The architectural historian John Newman has written that Maddox's work "gives Monmouth its particular architectural flavour," and considers Priory Street to be "his greatest work."
12–16 Church Street in Monmouth, Wales, is a row of three shop houses designed by the architect George Vaughan Maddox and constructed c. 1837. They form part of Maddox's redevelopment of the centre of Monmouth and stand on Church Street, to the rear of Maddox's Priory Street. The architectural historian John Newman has written that Maddox's work "gives Monmouth its particular architectural flavour" and Cadw describes the grouping of 12–16 Church Street as "the best preserved early 19th century shopfront in Monmouth."
9 Agincourt Street, Monmouth, Wales is a late 17th century townhouse which became the estate office of the agent of the Dukes of Beaufort in the mid 19th century. It is a Grade II* listed building. In commercial use since its construction, it now houses a firm of architects.
Wales 
