Cornwall House
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Cornwall House is a town house located at numbers 56 and 58, Monnow Street in
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 ...
,
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. It dates in part from the 17th century but was rebuilt in several stages later. The street facade and rear facade are very different, but both are reworkings of a much older building. 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 ...
, and has been described in ''The Buildings of Wales'' as "the most imposing house in the street".John Newman, ''The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire'', Penguin Books, 2000, , pp. 409–410 Part has been the main office of the ''
Monmouthshire Beacon The ''Monmouthshire Beacon'' is a weekly tabloid newspaper covering the areas of Monmouthshire, south Herefordshire and western Gloucestershire. It has been in continuous publication since 1837. Since 1980 the newspaper has been part of the T ...
'' newspaper since 1987.


History and architecture

The house was constructed in several stages, and occupies the sites of at least three
burgage Burgage is a medieval land term used in Great Britain and Ireland, well established by the 13th century. A burgage was a town ("borough" or "burgh") rental property (to use modern terms), owned by a king or lord. The property ("burgage tenement ...
s. In 1678 it was known as the Great House and was owned by George Milborne, brother of the
recusant Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...
George Milborne of
Wonastow Wonastow ( cy, Llanwarw) is a village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located south west of Monmouth. History and amenities Wonastow has a twelfth-century church dedicated to St. Wonnow or Saint Winwaloe, believed to have been bu ...
; in 1699 it was owned by Thomas Brewer, blacksmith. The
Duke of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort (), a title in the Peerage of England, was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of So ...
's agent, Henry Burgh, acquired it and was responsible for building the Queen Anne style frontage facing the fields at Chippenham – at the rear of the building as it now appears.


Exterior

What is now the rear of the building has a whitewashed stone dressing that covers the main red brick construction. It has two-plus-three-plus-two bays, with the central three under a pediment enclosing Diocletian windows and with a rusticated surround. There is a simple but elegant early nineteenth century staircase, and an Adamesque chimney piece with nicely carved timber. A plaque on the outside gives the date of that part of the building as 1752. The secluded walled garden, which the rear of the current building now overlooks, originally contained a
grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap a ...
from which the Duke and his friends could watch horse racing on Chippenham fields.Keith Kissack, ''Monmouth and its Buildings'', Logaston Press, 2003, , p.55 The building now faces Monnow Street. The façade that looks onto the street is
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
and shows two floors and an attic, with the building being set behind a railed forecourt. The new frontage was added in 1770, and (slightly later) a porch, fanlights and side doors were added in the late 18th century. The house now has five bays, under a cornice and pedimented porch on slender
Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...
columns. At some point in the 19th century the house was split into two parts, and the spaces between the house and the neighbouring buildings was filled by two single storey extensions. The one on the left provides access to number 56, which is now the office of the ''
Monmouthshire Beacon The ''Monmouthshire Beacon'' is a weekly tabloid newspaper covering the areas of Monmouthshire, south Herefordshire and western Gloucestershire. It has been in continuous publication since 1837. Since 1980 the newspaper has been part of the T ...
'' newspaper, while the one on the right provides a kitchen to number 58. The street entrance to number 58 retains an elegant lampholder over the gate in the ironwork front fence.


Interior

Inside the building, the original staircases are still extant, and there is "an
Adamesque The Adam style (or Adamesque and "Style of the Brothers Adam") is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and James (173 ...
chimneypiece of timber carved with exquisite delicacy".


Current uses and status

A plaque on the front of the building, dated 1837, refers to the ''Monmouthshire Beacon'', a newspaper founded that year. The newspaper moved into the building in 1987, its 150th anniversary year, when
Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth  ...
opened its new offices.Monmouthshire Beacon: About Us
accessed 20 January 2012
Number 58, the main part of the house, is privately owned but is regularly open to the public during selected weekends from March to September. The building was declared 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 ...
in 1952.


Notes

{{Buildings in Monmouth Houses in Monmouth, Wales Grade II* listed buildings in Monmouthshire