Judges' Lodgings, Monmouth

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The Judges' Lodgings

Judges' Lodgings Monmouth.jpg

St James' Mews - used as the Judges' Lodgings in the 19th century
Former names
  • Labour in Vain
  • Somerset House
General information
Address Whitecross Street
Town or city Monmouth
Country Wales
Coordinates 51°48′47″N2°42′43″W / 51.81306°N 2.71193°W / 51.81306; -2.71193 Coordinates: 51°48′47″N2°42′43″W / 51.81306°N 2.71193°W / 51.81306; -2.71193
Completed <1756
Designations Grade II listed

The Judges' Lodgings, located in Whitecross Street, Monmouth, south east Wales, is an eighteenth-century building, with earlier origins, on the edge of St James' Square. It has its origins as an early 16th-century town house, becoming the 'Labour in Vain' inn around 1756. It was in use as the Judges' Lodgings for the Monmouth Assizes before 1835, and as the Militia Officers' Mess in the 1870s. Today it is a private house, with modern mews cottages built into the rear. It is a Grade II listed building [1] and is one of 24 blue plaque buildings on the Monmouth Heritage Trail.

Monmouth town in Monmouthshire, Wales

Monmouth is the historic county town of Monmouthshire, Wales and a community. It is situated where the River Monnow meets the River Wye, within 2 miles (3.2 km) of the border with England. The town is 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Cardiff, and 113 miles (182 km) west of London. It is within the Monmouthshire local authority, and the parliamentary constituency of Monmouth. Monmouth's population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8,877 in 2001.

Wales Country in northwest Europe, part of the United Kingdom

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi). Wales has over 1,680 miles (2,700 km) of coastline and is largely mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon, its highest summit. The country lies within the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate.

The courts of assize, or assizes, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes exercised both civil and criminal jurisdiction, though most of their work was on the criminal side. The assizes heard the most serious cases, which were committed to it by the quarter sessions, while the more minor offences were dealt with summarily by justices of the peace in petty sessions.

History

Although there were earlier houses on this site, the earliest recorded building is the Labour in Vain inn in 1756, when it also had a malthouse and stables. It was known as Somerset House in the late eighteenth century, but was still the Labour in Vain in 1822, when it was used by officers of the Monmouth and Brecon Militia as a Mess, as an alternative to the Beaufort Arms, then the town's premier inn. [2]

The Beaufort Arms Hotel, Monmouth Grade II* listed building in Monmouth. Building in Monmouth, Wales

The Beaufort Arms Hotel, Agincourt Square, Monmouth, Monmouthshire, south-east Wales is a former coaching inn dating from the early eighteenth century, though the frontage may have been modified by the prolific early Victorian architect George Vaughan Maddox in the 1830s. A stone cornice on the central block still carries the inscription "The Beaufort Arms". It is a Grade II* listed building as of 27 June 1952. It is one of 24 buildings on the Monmouth Heritage Trail.

The building lodged the judges for the Monmouth Assizes held in the Shire Hall, [2] including the trial of the Chartists, where John Frost and two other leaders of the Newport Rising were condemned to death in 1840. "Respectable" society and those in authority were much in fear of Chartism, or indeed of giving any political power to the lower classes, and to guard against sedition Militia were stationed in Monmouth at the White Swan Inn.

Shire Hall, Monmouth Grade I listed building in Monmouth. Courthouse

The Shire Hall in Agincourt Square, Monmouth, Wales, is a prominent Grade I listed building in the town centre. It was built in 1724, and was formerly the centre for the Assize Courts and Quarter Sessions for Monmouthshire. 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. The building was also used as a market place. The Shire Hall is owned by Monmouthshire County Council and has audiovisual guides for visitors to Courtroom 1. It is currently used as a Tourist Information Centre and as the offices for Monmouth Town Council, and is open to the public in part.

John Frost (Chartist) Welsh Chartist

John Frost was a prominent Welsh leader of the British Chartist movement in the Newport Rising.

Newport Rising

The Newport Rising was the last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in Great Britain, when, on 4 November 1839, nearly 10,000 Chartist sympathisers, led by John Frost, marched on the town of Newport, Monmouthshire. The men, including many coal-miners, most with home-made arms, were intent on liberating fellow Chartists who were reported to have been taken prisoner in the town's Westgate Hotel. About 22 demonstrators were killed when troops opened fire on them. The leaders of the rebellion were convicted of treason and were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. The sentence was later commuted to transportation.

In 1926 the Lodgings became a motor garage, with cars served across the footpath from fuel pumps. At one time it was a Conservative Club, before being converted back to private houses, with smaller mews houses behind, in the 1970s. [2]

Conservative Club

The Conservative Club was a London gentlemen's club, now dissolved, which was established in 1840. In 1950 it merged with the Bath Club, and was disbanded in 1981. From 1845 until 1959, the club occupied a building at 74 St James's Street.

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References

  1. ↑ No.27, St. James' Garage (front range only), Whitecross Street, Monmouth, British Listed Buildings]. Accessed January 2012
  2. 1 2 3 Monmouth Civic Society, Monmouth Heritage Blue Plaque Trail, n.d., p.15
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