History and architecture
The village of Runston dates from the Medieval period, and Cadw suggests a construction date for the chapel of the early 12th century. [1] The chapel was dedicated to Keyne, one of the daughters of Brychan of Brycheiniog, an Early Middle Ages kingdom that lay to the north of the Kingdom of Gwent.
In the 18th century, the village went into decline. By 1798, when William Coxe arrived at the chapel, "the roof was fallen down, a large and broken font was lying on the floor, among the weeds and elder trees". Fred Hando, the Monmouthshire writer and illustrator, who visited about 150 years later, suggested that the decline was in part deliberate; "the men of Runston were a disreputable gang, smugglers, sheep-stealers and poachers. Unable otherwise to dislodge them, their landlords allowed the houses to fall into disrepair". Hando nevertheless admired the chapel ruins, "a hilltop symbol of holiness for over seven centuries".
Coflein describes the architectural style of the chapel as Romanesque. [5] John Newman, the architectural historian, in his Gwent/Monmouthshire Pevsner, notes that the chapel's unchanged dimensions give "an excellent idea of the neat symmetry" of the Romanesque style. The chapel consists of a chancel and nave with a small bellcote at the western end. [1] Cadw's listing record for the scheduled monument notes that it is "of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of the organisation and practice of medieval Christianity". [1]
Piercefield House is a largely ruined neo-classical country house near St Arvans, Monmouthshire, Wales, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the centre of Chepstow. The central block of the house was designed in the very late 18th century, by, or to the designs of, Sir John Soane. It is flanked by two pavilions, of slightly later date, by Joseph Bonomi the Elder. The house sits within Piercefield Park, a Grade I listed historic landscape, that was created in the 18th century as a notable Picturesque estate.
St David's Church, Llangeview, is a redundant church sited in a round churchyard adjacent to the junction of the A449 and A472 roads 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of the town of Usk in Monmouthshire, Wales. It has been designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches. It is Grade I listed because of its "exceptional interior" including a 15th-century rood-loft and "rare pre-Victorian box pews and fittings". The church stands in a churchyard that is almost circular, and is surrounded by a bank and the traces of a ditch.
Llanarth Court is a late-18th-century country house with substantial 19th-century alterations in Llanarth, Monmouthshire, Wales. The court was built for the Jones family of Treowen and was subsequently the home of Ivor Herbert, 1st Baron Treowen, whose family still owns much of the Llanarth estate, although not the court itself. The court is a Grade II* listed building and is now a private hospital.
LlanvihangelCourt, Llanvihangel Crucorney, is a Tudor country house in Monmouthshire, Wales. The architectural historian John Newman, in his Gwent/Monmouthshire volume of The Buildings of Wales series described the court as "the most impressive and richly decorated house of around 1600 in Monmouthshire". The origins of the house are medieval, with a traditional date of construction of 1471. The building was given its present appearance by a substantial enlargement and re-casing of circa 1600 by Rhys Morgan, of the family of the original owners. In the very early 17th century it was owned briefly by Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester.
The Church of St Nicholas in the village of Grosmont, Monmouthshire, Wales, is a parish church dating from the 13th century. Its exceptional size reflects the importance and standing of the borough of Grosmont at the time of the church's construction and has led it to be called a "miniature cathedral". Largely unaltered from the time of its building, by the 19th century the church had seriously decayed and its tower was close to collapse. It was rescued from dereliction in a restoration undertaken by John Pollard Seddon and financed by John Etherington Welch Rolls.
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.
Castle House in Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales, originally formed the gatehouse to Usk Castle. Much altered in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it is now a private home and a Grade I listed building.
The Church of St Martin, Cwmyoy, Monmouthshire, Wales, was begun in the 12th century, although most of the current structure dates from the 13th century. The church is most notable for its extreme tilt, the result of a landslide. This has led to many attempts to strengthen the church and prevent its collapse, through the use of massive tie beams and buttresses. The church is in the Gothic style, and has a chancel, nave, south porch, and western tower. A round-headed north window dates to the 12th century, and the nave roof has been dated to the late 13th or early 14th century. St Martin's is a Grade I listed building and an active parish church. It is dedicated to St Martin of Tours.
St Cadoc's Church, Raglan, Monmouthshire, south east Wales, is the parish church of the village of Raglan. The church is situated at a cross-roads in the centre of the village. Built originally by the Clare and Bluet families in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, it was rebuilt, and expanded by the Herbert's of Raglan Castle in the fifteenth century. In the nineteenth century, the church was subject to a major restoration by Thomas Henry Wyatt.
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 other large settlements being Chepstow, Monmouth, and Usk. The present county was formed under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, 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. The county is 850 km2 in extent, with a population of 95,200 as of 2020.
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, 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".
Tregrug Castle or Llangibby Castle is a ruin in Monmouthshire, Wales, located about 1 mile (1.5 km) to the north of the village of Llangybi, close to the settlement of Tregrug.
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".
The Procurator's House in Magor, Monmouthshire, Wales, is a large, ruined mansion of the sixteenth-century, standing next to St Mary's Church in the centre of the village. Although of ecclesiastical origin, it is unlikely the present house was ever occupied by a Procurator, who was a church official responsible for the collection of tithes. The lands owned by the Church of St Mary were controlled by the Abbey of Anagni, in Italy, in the Middle Ages and it is possible that an earlier building on the same site housed the abbey's procurator. The current building post-dates ownership by the abbey, and was constructed when the avowson of St Mary's was controlled by Tintern Abbey. The building is mentioned in a document of 1585, when it is referred to as "the mansion house belonging to the vicarage of Magor." This accounts for the two alternative names for the ruin, Magor Mansion and The Church House.
The Church of St Andrew, Tredunnock, Monmouthshire is a parish church with its origins in the 12th or 13th century. A Grade II* listed building, the church remains an active parish church.
The Church of the Holy Cross, Kilgwrrwg, Monmouthshire is an early medieval parish church that once supported a now abandoned village. A Grade II* listed building, the church remains an active parish church.
The Old Cottage, in the hamlet of Treadam, some 2km north-west of Llantilio Crossenny, Monmouthshire, is a country house dating from c.1600. The house is Grade II* listed.
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.
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.
