Allt-y-Bela

Last updated

Allt-y-Bela
Allt-y-bela farmhouse - geograph.org.uk - 96756.jpg
"the dignity of Allt-y-Bela" [1]
Type Country house
Location Llangwm, Monmouthshire, Wales
Coordinates 51°42′01″N2°51′08″W / 51.7004°N 2.8523°W / 51.7004; -2.8523
OS grid reference SO 4119 0053
Builtlate Medieval
Architectural style(s) vernacular
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated19 August 1955
Reference no. 2031
Monmouthshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Allt-y-Bela in Monmouthshire

Allt-y-Bela in Llangwm, Monmouthshire, Wales, is a house of late medieval origin with additions from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries. The name means "wood/wooded slope of the wolf / marten" in Welsh. [2] During the early seventeenth century, it was owned by Roger Edwards, a wealthy Midlands merchant and the founder of Usk Grammar School. Edwards made significant alterations in the Renaissance style to the medieval cruck house. By the twentieth century, the house was in ruins until restored by the Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust in the early twenty-first century. Now owned by the garden designer Arne Maynard, the house is a Grade II* listed building recognising its significance as an "exceptionally important sub-medieval house with ambitious early renaissance additions". [3]

Contents

History and architecture

The house was built in the late-medieval period, [4] the first datable reference being an "ovolo-moulded mullion window of 1599." [5] This period also saw the construction of the three-storeyed parlour tower. [6] This building was undertaken by Roger Edwards, a cloth merchant from the Midlands, who founded the grammar school at Usk. [6] This phase of construction was investigated by Sir Cyril Fox and Lord Raglan in their multi-volume study Monmouthshire Houses . [5] Fox and Raglan described the architectural style employed as Renaissance, [4] identifying it as a significant development in Monmouthshire vernacular architecture. [7] Peter Smith, in his study Houses of the Welsh Countryside, records their view that the construction of the parlour block at Allt-y-Bela "heralded the beginning of the Renaissance in th(e) county". [8]

The Monmouthshire author and artist, Fred Hando, visited the house in the early 1950s and described it is his book Journeys in Gwent. Although, in 1951, the house was still habitable, Hando wrote presciently of its coming fate; "Here are ominous signs that unless immediate and drastic action is taken, we shall lose priceless relics." [9] By end of the twentieth century, the house was in a state of advanced decay with the parlour tower having almost completely collapsed. [5] In 2000, the architectural writer John Newman described the house as "miserably derelict." [7] Following compulsory purchase by Monmouthshire County Council, control of the building passed to the Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust in 2001. [10] After a large-scale restoration project, jointly funded by the Trust and by Cadw, [11] the fully restored building was sold to the landscape designer Arne Maynard in 2006. [10] It now operates as a bed and breakfast and can also be rented in its entirety. [12]

Notes

  1. ↑ Fox & Raglan 1994, p. 22.
  2. ↑ See gallt and bela in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru .
  3. ↑ Cadw. "Allt-y-bella (Grade II*) (2031)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  4. 1 2 "Allt-Y-Bela (36379)". Coflein. RCAHMW . Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 "Allt-y-bella – Llantrisant Fawr – Monmouthshire – Wales". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  6. 1 2 Newman 2000, p. 318.
  7. 1 2 Newman 2000, p. 34.
  8. ↑ Smith 1975, p. 238.
  9. ↑ Hando 1951, p. 46.
  10. 1 2 "Allt-y-Bela, Usk, Monmouthshire, South Wales". The Spitalfields Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  11. ↑ Beardsall, Jonny (25 June 2005). "A towering achievement". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Allt-y-bela – fabulous listed farmhouse – Monmouthshire". Allt-y-bela. Retrieved 7 October 2021.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monmouthshire</span> County in Wales

Monmouthshire is a county in the south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the south, and Torfaen, Newport and Blaenau Gwent to the west. The largest town is Abergavenny, and the administrative centre is Usk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llangwm, Monmouthshire</span> Human settlement in Wales

Llangwm is a small rural village and former community, now in the community of Llantrisant Fawr, in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Usk, on the B4235 Chepstow to Usk road. The main village is at Llangwm Uchaf, with a smaller and more dispersed settlement about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the north-east at Llangwm Isaf .The other settlement in the community is Llansoy. In 2022 the community was abolished and merged with Llantrisant Fawr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Hando</span> Welsh writer, artist, teacher, and historian

Frederick James Hando MBE was a Welsh writer, artist and schoolteacher from Newport. He chronicled the history, character and folklore of Monmouthshire, which he also called Gwent, in a series of nearly 800 newspaper articles and several books published between the 1920s and 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grade I listed buildings in Monmouthshire</span>

Monmouthshire is a county and principal area of Wales. It borders Torfaen and Newport to the west; Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the east; and Powys to the north. The largest town is Abergavenny, with the other major towns being Chepstow, Monmouth, and Usk. The county is 850 km2 in extent, with a population of 95,200 as of 2020. The present county was formed under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, which came into effect in 1996, and comprises some sixty percent of the historic county. Between 1974 and 1996, the county was known by the ancient title of Gwent, recalling the medieval Welsh kingdom. In his essay on local government in the fifth and final volume of the Gwent County History, Robert McCloy suggests that the governance of "no county in the United Kingdom in the twentieth century was so transformed as that of Monmouthshire".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grade II* listed buildings in Monmouthshire</span> List of buildings in principal area of Wales

Monmouthshire is a county of Wales. It borders Torfaen and Newport to the west; Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the east; and Powys to the north. The largest town is Abergavenny, with the other major towns being Chepstow, Monmouth, and Usk. The county is 850 km2 in extent, with a population of 95,200 as of 2020. The present county was formed under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, which came into effect in 1996, and comprises some sixty percent of the historic county. Between 1974 and 1996, the county was known by the ancient title of Gwent, recalling the medieval Welsh kingdom. In his essay on local government in the fifth and final volume of the Gwent County History, Robert McCloy suggests that the governance of "no county in the United Kingdom in the twentieth century was so transformed as that of Monmouthshire".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Pitt Cottage</span> Medieval house in Monmouthshire, Wales

Little Pitt Cottage is a medieval house in Llanarth, Monmouthshire, South Wales. It was designated a Grade II* listed building in 1956, its listing record describing it as a "fine and exceptionally intact timber-framed house".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llwyn-celyn Farmhouse</span> Farmhouse in Llanvihangel Crucorney, Monmouthshire

Llwyn-celyn Farmhouse, Llanvihangel Crucorney, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse of late medieval origins. It is a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church Farmhouse, Kemeys Commander</span> Farmhouse in Kemeys Commander, Monmouthshire

Church Farmhouse, Kemeys Commander, Monmouthshire is a former parsonage dating from the mid-16th century. The farmhouse and the attached barn are Grade II* listed buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Old Cottage, Treadam, Llantilio Crossenny</span> House in Llanvihangel Crucorney, Monmouthshire

The Old Cottage, in the hamlet of Treadam, some 2 km north-west of Llantilio Crossenny, Monmouthshire, is a country house dating from c.1600. The house is Grade II* listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Tresenny Farmhouse</span> House in Grosmont, Monmouthshire

Great Tresenny Farmhouse, Grosmont, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse dating from c.1600. Situated just to the south of the village, the farmhouse is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newhouse Farmhouse, Llanvetherine</span> Farmhouse in Llanvetherine, Monmouthshire

Newhouse Farmhouse, Llanvetherine, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse dating from the late-16th century. It is a Grade II* listed building. Its associated barns and stable block have their own Grade II listings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ton Farmhouse, Llangybi</span> Farmhouse in Llangybi, Monmouthshire

Ton Farmhouse, Llangybi, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse dating from the early 17th century. John Newman, in his Monmouthshire Pevsner, describes it as a "perfect Monmouthshire farmhouse". Ton is a Grade II* listed building, its listing noting that it is a "remarkably good survival" of a prosperous 17th century Welsh farmhouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great House, Llanarth</span> Farmhouse in Llanarth, Monmouthshire

Great House, Llanarth, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse dating from the late-16th century. Extended in the mid-17th century and little altered thereafter, it is a Grade II* listed building. The detached barn range has its own Grade II listing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pentwyn, Llanllowell</span> Farmhouse in Llanllowell, Monmouthshire

Pentwyn, Llanllowell, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse dating from the mid-16th century. The house is Grade II* listed, with the adjacent barn having its own Grade II listing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cwrt y Brychan barn, stable and granary</span> Barn in Llansoy, Monmouthshire

The barn, stable and granary at Cwrt y Brychan , Llansoy, Monmouthshire are a range of farm buildings constructed in the 16th century. The origins are the site are ancient and the court is historically connected with the kingdom of Brycheiniog. The complex has a Grade II* listing, with the court having a separate Grade II listing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trivor Farmhouse, St Maughans</span> House in St Maughans, Monmouthshire

Trivor Farmhouse, St Maughans, Monmouthshire is a house dating from the late 17th century. Extended and reconstructed in the 18th century, it was originally the home of the recusant James family. In the 19th century it was bought by the Rolls family of the nearby Hendre estate. The house is Grade II* listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Tal-y-fan, Dingestow</span> House in Dingestow, Monmouthshire

Upper Tal-y-fan, Dingestow, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse dating from the late-Medieval period. Subsequently, enlarged, it remains a private house and is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berllan-deg, Llanhennock</span> House in Llanhennock, Monmouthshire

Berllan-deg, Llanhennock, Monmouthshire is a country house dating from the mid-17th century. A rare survival of a remarkably unaltered hall house, Berllan-deg is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower Celliau, Llangattock Lingoed</span> Farmhouse in Llangattock Lingoed, Monmouthshire

Lower Celliau,, Llangattock Lingoed, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse dating from the 16th century. It is a Grade II* listed building. The adjacent barn and shelter, and cowhouse and stable have their own Grade II listings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perth-hir House</span> House in Rockfield, Monmouthshire

Perth-hir House, Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales, was a major residence of the Herbert family. It stood at a bend of the River Monnow, to the north-west of the village. At its height in the 16th century, the mansion, entered by two drawbridges over a moat, comprised a great hall and a number of secondary structures. Subsequently in the ownership of the Powells, and then the Lorimers, the house became a centre of Catholic recusancy following the English Reformation. By the 19th century, the house had declined to the status of a farmhouse and it was largely demolished in around 1830. Its ruins, and the site which contains considerable remnants of a Tudor garden, are a scheduled monument.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.