Lydart is a dispersed

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

within the

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

Mitchel Troy Mitchel Troy ( cy, Llanfihangel Troddi, that is "church of St Michael on the River Trothy") is a village and community in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, in the United Kingdom. It is located 3 miles south west of the county town of Monmouth, ju ...

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 ...

, Wales. It is located about south-west of

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

, north of

Trellech Trellech (occasionally spelt Trelech, Treleck or Trelleck; cy, Tryleg) is a village and parish in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales. Located south of Monmouth and north-north-west of Tintern, Trellech lies on a plateau above the Wye Valley on t ...

, and south-east of Mitchel Troy village, on the top of an

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

which slopes steeply down to the valley of the

River Trothy The River Trothy ( cy, Afon Troddi) is a river which flows through north Monmouthshire, in rural south east Wales. The river rises on Campston Hill, northeast of Abergavenny. It flows southwards until Llanvapley, where it turns east. About so ...

. The B4293 road passes through the area.

Lydart House and Estate

Lydart House is described as a "handsomely proportioned" eighteenth-century house, of six bays and two storeys. The nearby Lydart Farmhouse is a fortified

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

largely constructed in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, though parts of the house date to the twelfth century. The house underwent further expansion in the late eighteenth century, after the Lydart estate saw a significant influx of wealth from the wars with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The house's chapel is designated as a site of historical interest by

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 ...

due to its rare fleur-de-lys decorative plasterwork and hidden staircase, which may indicate early ecclesiastical use. Both are

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 ...

A country inn - now sadly closed - geograph

Caer Llan

Caer Llan, to the south of Lydart House, is a former

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

, thought to have been built about 1800 but much extended in various stages since that time. After being used briefly as a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

, it began to be used as a field studies centre in 1971. It is now also used as a conference centre and events venue, and provides some accommodation.

Ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

to the south east of the centre is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSI).

Ty Mawr

Ty Mawr is a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

run by the

Society of the Sacred Cross The Society of the Sacred Cross is an Anglican religious order founded in Chichester, Sussex, in 1910. It established a community at Tymawr, Lydart, Monmouthshire, in 1923 with guidance from Fr G. Northcott of the Community of the Resurrection. T ...

in a secluded location at Lydart. The community was established at Ty Mawr in 1923, and today consists of about ten professed sisters, with several

oblate In Christianity (especially in the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Methodist traditions), an oblate is a person who is specifically dedicated to God or to God's service. Oblates are individuals, either laypersons or clergy, normally livi ...

s and associates.

Other buildings and structures

The Gockett Inn was a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

located on the B4293 road. It is known to have operated since at least the 17th century and to have been used by drovers, but closed down around 2003 and is now a private house. A boundary stone at Five Trees marks the point at which the boundaries of the ancient

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

es of

Cwmcarvan Cwmcarvan ( cy, Cwmcarfan) is a small rural village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located 4 miles south west of Monmouth and about 4 miles east of Raglan, off the old A40 road two miles NW of Trellech. History and amenities Chu ...

, Mitchel Troy,

Penallt Penallt (also spelt Penalt) is a village in Monmouthshire, Wales, set high on a hill south of Monmouth. In the centre of the village, by the village green, is the 17th-century village pub, the Bush Inn. Description Nearby, the ''Penallt Old Ch ...

and Trellech meet. Four trees were planted to mark the junction before 1800, and a fifth was placed in the middle as the central point. The site was restored in 1982/83, with the assistance of young persons employed under the

Youth Training Scheme The Youth Training Scheme (YTS) was the name in the United Kingdom of an on-the-job training course for school leavers aged 16 and 17 and was managed by the Manpower Services Commission. The scheme was first outlined in the 1980 white paper ''A Ne ...

High Glanau High Glanau (also known as High Glanau Manor) is a country house and Grade II* listed building within the community of Cwmcarvan, Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located about south-west of Monmouth, and north of Trellech, adjoining the B4293 roa ...

, a house and garden built in 1922/23 for the architectural writer and garden designer

Henry Avray Tipping Henry Avray Tipping (22 August 1855 – 16 November 1933) was a French-born British writer on country houses and gardens, a garden designer, and Architectural Editor of '' Country Life'' magazine for 17 years. Early life Tipping was born in the ...

, is located just south of Lydart, within the community of Cwmcarvan.Newman, ''The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire'', p.208

References

{{authority control Villages in Monmouthshire