Trostrey Court House,

Trostrey Trostrey ( cy, Trostre) is a small hamlet and parish in Monmouthshire, in southeast Wales located about north/northwest of Usk. History Excavations at the castle in 2000 found evidence of burial cairns from the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. ...

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 late 16th century gentry house. The current building replaced an earlier

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

court. The house played a role in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

when it was seized by the forces of

Thomas Fairfax Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 161212 November 1671), also known as Sir Thomas Fairfax, was an English politician, general and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War. An adept and talented command ...

during the siege of

Raglan Castle Raglan Castle ( cy, Castell Rhaglan) is a late medieval castle located just north of the village of Raglan in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales. The modern castle dates from between the 15th and early 17th centuries, when the succ ...

. In the 18th century the estate was sold to

Valentine Morris Valentine Morris (27 October 1727 – 26 August 1789) was a British landowner and politician, responsible for developing the picturesque woodland walks at Piercefield in the Wye Valley, and the Governor of St. Vincent from 1772 to 1779. Life ...

, owner of nearby

Piercefield House Piercefield House is a largely ruined neo-classical country house near St Arvans, Monmouthshire, Wales, about 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, ...

. In the 19th century the court was owned by the Fluyders, but let to tenant farmers. It remains a private house and working estate. The court is a

Grade II* listed 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 ...

building.

History

The current house dates from the 1580s, and was built by a John David Powell, to replace the earlier, medieval manor house which stood on the site. The Powells subsequently took on the surname Jones and a descendant, Jane Jones, married Charles Hughes of Moynes Court, near

Chepstow Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western ...

. Charles Hughes was a prominent

Cavalier The term Cavalier () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – ). It ...

and Trostrey was taken by General Thomas Fairfax during the siege of Raglan Castle in 1646. In the mid-18th century, the estate was sold to Valentine Morris, a sugar planter who lived at the, much grander,

. Morris held the court for only a short time before debts forced him to mortgage it to Sir Samuel Fludyer in the 1770s. The Fluyders owned the court for the next one hundred years but never lived there, letting it to tenant farmers. In the 20th century, the court was bought by the Morgans, and, still run as a working farm and private estate, is owned by their descendants. The current owner, David Morgan

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

is the president of the Usk Rural Life Museum.

Architecture and description

The current house replaced an earlier manor. The house is constructed to a T-plan, and is built of

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionary ...

with

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roofs. The three-storey porch dates from the early 17th century and is described by the architectural historian John Newman as "most remarkable". The building is of two-storeys, with attics. The exterior of the house has been rendered and repointed and the windows replaced in the late 20th century. Newman considers the result, "none too attractive". The interior contains significant 17th century wood panelling, including in the interior of the porch. In the 18th century wing of the court, a bedroom chamber is reported to house a

priest hole A priest hole is a hiding place for a priest built into many of the principal Catholic houses of England, Wales and Ireland during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law. When Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558, there were se ...

behind the fireplace. The court is a Grade II* listed building, the

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 ...

designation noting its "important and early history...(and its)...fine panelling".

Notes

References

* {{Cite book , last=Newman, first=John , author-link=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