History and description
The establishment of Church Farmhouse is traditionally suggested to have been a grange to Llanthony Secunda Priory in Gloucestershire. [1] The architectural historian John Newman, writing in his Gwent/Monmouthshire volume of the Buildings of Wales series, notes that the priory acquired land in Caldicot in the 12th century. [a] The subsequent, extensive, rebuilding, in particular, a major expansion around 1600, has created a "rather confusing" building history. [1] Cadw suggests that, if it was a monastic grange, it would have been dissolved in either 1536 or 1539. [1] A second tradition regarding the house is that it came into the personal possession of Henry VIII at this time. [3] The house was extended around 1600, when Cadw indicates it may have become a rectory. Aside from a small Victorian extension, reroofing of the tower in the 1940s, and the removal of cement render from the walls in the 1970s, the house remains largely unaltered, [1] although Newman notes that the farmhouse's setting has been "drastically compromised by late 20th century housing".
The house is constructed of local limestone and is to an L-plan, of three storeys to the east range and four to the south. The south-west range contains a set of medieval rooms, which Newman describes as "on an oddly miniature scale". Cadw suggests that these were "monastic dormitories (each) with its own secure closet and garderobe" and notes "it is very remarkable that such an arrangement should have survived so completely". [1]
The house, which is currently for sale, remains privately owned. [4] Its Cadw listing record describes Church Farmhouse as "an exceptionally rare and interesting monastic building". [1] The adjacent barn, which dates from the 18th century, has its own Grade II listing. [5]
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