Church Farmhouse, Caldicot,

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

is a substantial

grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery Geography Australia * Grange, South Austral ...

building which was a working farmhouse before 1205. It is connected to both Llanthony Prima in Monmouthshire and Llanthony Secunda in Gloucester. It was established as a grange farm for

Llanthony Secunda Priory Llanthony Secunda Priory was a house of Augustinian canons in the parish of Hempsted, Gloucestershire, England, situated about 1/2 a mile south-west of Gloucester Castle in the City of Gloucester. It was founded in 1136 by Miles de Gloucester, 1st ...

in the 12th century with the lands in Caldicot being given to the monastery in 1137. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The adjacent barn has its own Grade II listing.

History and description

The establishment of Church Farmhouse is traditionally suggested to have been a

to Llanthony Secunda Priory in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. 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. The subsequent, extensive, rebuilding, in particular, a major expansion around 1600, has created a "rather confusing" building history.

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...

suggests that, if it was a monastic grange, it would have been dissolved in either 1536 or 1539. A second tradition regarding the house is that it came into the personal possession of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

at this time. The house was extended around 1600, when Cadw indicates it may have become a

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

. Aside from a small Victorian extension, reroofing of the tower in the 1940s, and the removal of

cement render Cement render or cement plaster is the application of a mortar mix of sand and cement, (optionally lime) and water to brick, concrete, stone, or mud brick. It is often textured, colored, or painted after application. It is generally used on ...

from the walls in the 1970s, the house remains largely unaltered, although Newman notes that the farmhouse's setting has been "drastically compromised by late 20th century housing". The house is constructed of local

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

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 Garderobe is a historic term for a room in a medieval castle. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives as its first meaning a store-room for valuables, but also acknowledges "by extension, a private room, a bed-chamber; also a privy". The word der ...

" and notes "it is very remarkable that such an arrangement should have survived so completely". The house, which is currently for sale, remains privately owned. Its Cadw listing record describes Church Farmhouse as "an exceptionally rare and interesting monastic building". The adjacent barn, which dates from the 18th century, has its own Grade II listing.

Notes

References

Sources

* {{Cite book , last=Newman, first=John , authorlink=John Newman (architectural historian) , series=The Buildings of Wales , title=Gwent/Monmouthshire , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=knRf4U60QjcC&dq=The+Buildings+of+Wales%3A+Gwent%2FMonmouthshire&pg=PA2 , year=2000 , publisher=Penguin , location=London , isbn=0-14-071053-1 Grade II* listed buildings in Monmouthshire Country houses in Wales Grade II* listed houses