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Author | Sir Cyril Fox & Lord Raglan |
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Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Genre | |
Publisher | National Museum of Wales |
Media type | Print (hardback) |
Monmouthshire Houses: A Study of Building Techniques and Smaller House-Plans in the Fifteenth to Seventeenth Centuries is a study of buildings within the county of Monmouthshire written by Sir Cyril Fox and Lord Raglan and published by the National Museum of Wales. The study was published in three volumes; Part I Medieval Houses, Part II Sub-Medieval Houses, c. 1550–1610 and Part III Renaissance Houses, c. 1590–1714, between 1951 and 1954. The series was republished by Merton Priory Press in 1994. A later historian of Welsh architecture, Peter Smith, described Fox and Raglan’s work as equal in importance, in its own field, to Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species .
Sir Cyril Fox (1882–1967) was Director of the National Museum of Wales from 1926 to 1948. [2] Fitzroy Somerset, Lord Raglan, the great-grandson of the 1st Lord Raglan, British Commander during the Crimean War, was a soldier, author and resident of Cefntilla Court in Monmouthshire. [3] Raglan was also a Commissioner for Ancient Monuments in Wales and both he and Fox were pioneers of the study of vernacular architecture, being founder members of the Vernacular Architecture Group. [4] From the early 1940s until 1949, Fox and Raglan undertook the most extensive survey of lesser Monmouthshire buildings ever undertaken. [5] Raglan described their methodology in the introduction to the first volume, Medieval Houses, published in 1951. [lower-alpha 1] He would identify houses of interest and obtain the necessary permissions from owners, before calling in Fox to undertake a detailed survey. [5] In the Introduction to the 1994 reprint, Peter Smith, author of Houses of the Welsh Countryside, recorded Raglan's approach; "as we travelled from farmhouse to farmhouse, I realised that his was a name that carried weight and in Monmouthshire opened every door...status and personal charm carried the day and we followed in his wake". [7]
In the Introduction to Sub-Medieval Houses, the second volume of their history, Fox and Raglan record the genesis of the project. Wartime defensive precautions in 1941 led to a decision by the Ministry of Works to demolish an important farmhouse, Upper Wern-hir, near Llanbadoc. Fox and Raglan obtained permission to survey the building before its destruction and their investigations, together with the threats to Wern-hir and other, similar, buildings, convinced them of the need for a comprehensive survey of such structures throughout Monmouthshire. [8] Working mainly at weekends, and funded by the National Museum, Fox and Raglan produced "the first truly comprehensive regional study of vernacular architecture in Britain". [9] Some seventy years after the volumes were first published, Fox and Raglan's work is still cited by scholars. [10] [11] The architectural historian, John Newman, author of the Pevsner for Monmouthshire, considered their joint work as "ground-breaking, the single most important publication on any aspect of the county's buildings", [12] and Smith described Monmouthshire Houses as "one of the most remarkable studies of vernacular architecture yet made in the British Isles", [13] "a landmark, in its own field, as significant as Darwin's Origin of Species ". [12]
The three-volume work comprises detailed studies of over 400 houses and farmhouses built in Monmouthshire between the medieval period and 1714. [14] The volumes are:
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".
Allt-y-Bela in Llangwm, Monmouthshire, Wales, is a house of late medieval origin with additions from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries. 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".
Llwyn-celyn Farmhouse, Llanvihangel Crucorney, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse of late medieval origins. It is a Grade I listed building.
The Artha, Tregare, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse dating from the mid-17th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.
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.
The Barn at Lower Tresenny, Grosmont, Monmouthshire is an "extremely rare" example of a cruck-framed barn. It dates from the mid 16th century. The barn is a Grade II* listed building.
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.
Treworgan Manor, Llansoy, Monmouthshire is a country house dating from the early 18th century. Its origins are older, from the 16th century. Long in the possession of the Prichard family, it changed hands a number of times in later centuries and remains a private residence. The house is Grade II* listed, its listing describing it as a "fine Renaissance house". An adjacent barn has its own Grade II Listing.
Llanddewi Court, Llanddewi Skirrid, Monmouthshire, Wales, is a Grade II* listed house dating from the late 16th century. It is an example of a "double-house", a building in two sections, originally without interconnections, and designed to accommodate two families.
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.
The Cwm, Llantrisant, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse dating from the 16th century. Expanded in both the 17th and 18th centuries, The Cwm is a Grade II* listed building, its listing describing it as "a substantial farmhouse of distinctive T-plan".
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.
Wern-ddu farmhouse, Llantilio Pertholey, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse of 17th century origins. It has been significantly altered in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries and the Monmouthshire antiquarian, Sir Joseph Bradney recorded that it had "suffered so much by continual alterations that it shows but little of its antiquity". It is a Grade II* listed building.
Great Killough, Llantilio Crossenny, Monmouthshire is a substantial manor house of late medieval origins. The majority of the current structures date from three building periods from 1600 to 1670. It is a Grade II* listed building.
Blaengavenny Farmhouse, Llanvihangel Crucorney, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse of late medieval origins. It is a Grade II listed building. Its adjacent barn and granary have separate Grade II listings.
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.
Chapel Farmhouse and its attached outbuilding, Llanarth, Monmouthshire is a house dating from the 16th century. Greatly enlarged in the 17th century, it remains a private house. It is a Grade II* listed building.
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.
Persondy (the Priest's House), Mamhilad, Monmouthshire is a former parsonage dating from the late 16th century. It is a Grade II* listed building. The adjacent barn, now a separate residence called Ysguborwen, has its own Grade II listing.
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.