Llanwenarth House

Llanwenarth House is a small country house, formerly a hotel, located off the B4246 road, west of Govilon and Llanfoist, just south of Abergavenny in the Usk valley of Monmouthshire, Wales. It was built in the late 16th century, although the drawing room and some of the furnishings are from the Georgian period.[1]

History

The exact date of the building of the house is unknown, although there are title deeds dated to 1602 for the house.[2] In the 17th and 18th century the house was known to be administered by the Morgan family.[2] Dassie Morgan mentioned the house in her will, dated October 7, 1620, which also requested the repair of the nearby Llanweanrth Bridge.[3] It was known for many years as Ty-mawr, simply meaning "the great house".[3] In the late 18th century, Joshua Morgan occupied the house, a man who held a prominent authoritative role as the high sheriff of Monmouthshire. [4] James Humfrey, a graduate of Trinity College, Oxford came into possession of the house in 1862 on the death of his mother Lucy Morgan who was the last descendent of the Llanwenarth Morgans.[2] and the house remained in the Humfrey family for the next two generations.

In 2015, it was reported that a property developer had illegally modified the house.[5]

Architecture

The house is a Grade II* listed building, listed on 1 September 1956.[6] The hotel is a recipient of The Good Hotel Guide César Award for the Best Welsh Country House of the Year of 2002, given to the best hotels in the United Kingdom.[1] It is three storeys high and consists of three bays each with a bay window on each floor. There is an extension on the left side of the house as you approach it through the private driveway from the main road, It is noted for its Georgian log fire in the drawing room.[1][7] The Good Hotel Guide describes the decor of the house as being "delightfully eccentric".[1] Formerly owned by Bruce and Amanda Weatherill, as of 2002 it contained 5 double guestrooms,1 of which is on the ground floor,although in 1988 it reportedly only had four guestrooms.[1][8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Raphael, Caroline and Balmer, Desmond (2001). The Good Hotel Guide 2002. Ebury Press London. p. 400.
  2. 1 2 3 Nicholas, Thomas (1 August 1991). Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 778. ISBN 978-0-8063-1314-6. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  3. 1 2 Bradney, Joseph Alfred (1992). History of Monmouthshire from the Coming of the Normans Into Wales Down to the Present Time. Academy Books. ISBN 978-1-873361-13-9. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  4. ↑ Monthly magazine and British register. Printed for R. Phillips. 1798. p. 233. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  5. ↑ Wright, Benjamin (19 August 2015). "Property developer who 'used children's gravestones to decorate mansion' ordered to pay £300,000 – or face jail". The Independent. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Llanwenarth House". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  7. ↑ Grosvenor, Tamara (1 March 2004). Britain & Ireland. Interlink Books. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-56656-536-3. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  8. ↑ Sutton, Remar (5 April 1988). Body worry. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-009744-3. Retrieved 27 March 2011.

External links

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