The Gaer House ( Welsh: "Yr Ty Gaer" meaning 'The Fort House' or 'The House of the Fort') is an estate house located in the community of

Gaer, Newport Gaer ( cy, Y Gaer) is a community and electoral district ("ward") of the city of Newport, South Wales. The ward includes both the Gaer and Maesglas estates. To the south west of the ward is a listed monument known as the Gaer Hillfort (alter ...

, South Wales. It is situated about from the Newport to Cardiff road, near a Roman fort, which gave the name to the estate. The Gaer Hillfort (alternative: the Gollars), a large circular site, is a huge fort situated in a defensive position overlooking the

Ebbw River The Ebbw River (; cy, Afon Ebwy) is a river in South Wales which gives its name to the town of Ebbw Vale. The Ebbw River is joined by the Ebbw Fach River ( Welsh: Afon Ebwy Fach meaning 'little Ebbw river') at Aberbeeg. The Ebbw Fach is itself ...

. It contains many enclosures, a large bank and a ditch. In the 17th century, the hillfort was included in the ornamental landscaping plan of nearby Tredegar House. The original Gaer House was built in the reign of Queen Elizabeth by Alexander Seys, Esq., second son of

Roger Seys Roger Seys (died 1599) was Attorney general of all Wales; and Under-Sheriff of Glamorganshire in 1570. He was grandfather of Ievan Sais of Cowbridge. His seat became Boverton through his marriage to Elizabeth, heiress of Griffith Voss, and Maid of ...

, Esq., of

Boverton Boverton ( cy, Trebefered) is a village located to the east of Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. History Boverton was founded during the reign of William the Conqueror in England. It is thought that he himself founded Bov ...

. Roger Seys was Attorney-general of Wales in the time of Queen Elizabeth. Alexander Seys had several children by his wife Elizabeth: Roger, Alexander, William, Elizabeth, Mary, and Florence. The Gaer House passed to the third son, William. The Gaer remained in the Seys family until the death of William Seys, High Sheriff for the county in 1738. He left four daughters, his coheirs. Florence, his third daughter, married Henry Montonnier Hawkins (d. May 1814), and the house passed to their son, Anthony Montonnier Hawkins in whose lifetime, the Gaer House was entirely renovated, the

Elizabethan architecture Elizabethan architecture refers to buildings of a certain style constructed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland from 1558–1603. Historically, the era sits between the long era of the dominant architectural style o ...

destroyed, and a modern front substituted without any particular style of architecture. It stands upon a slight

topographic prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

, which has views over the Bristol Channel to the coast of

Somersetshire ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. In one area, the grounds extend to Tredegar House Country Park, on the highest portion of which are the remains of the Roman fort or encampment. By the mid 19th century, it was the home of Thomas Powell, a Magistrate and Deputy-Lieutenant of Monmouthshire, whose

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

was named the Gelly Gaer. Charles D. Phillips (1845–1912) owned the house in the early 20th century. He was apprenticed as a young man to the mechanical engineering profession, and became proprietor of an engineering business. He went on to own the Emlyn Works at Newport, along with works at Gloucester, which and branches in London and Cardiff. He also founded and published ''Phillips' Monthly Machinery Register'', to which he added later an electrical and autocar supplement. He was also a farmer, as well as a manufacturer of and dealer in machinery and engineering plants. Phillips was a member of the

Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 120,000 member ...

and the

South Wales Institute of Engineers South Wales Institute of Engineers was founded in 1857 as a learned society for engineers and scientists in the area, arranging lectures and publishing the Proceedings of the South Wales Institute of Engineers. William Menelaus founded the organ ...

. He was elected a member of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1890.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaer House Buildings and structures in Newport, Wales