Allt-y-Bela in

Llangwm, Monmouthshire Llangwm is a small rural village and former community, now in the community of Llantrisant Fawr, in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located east of Usk, on the B4235 Chepstow to Usk road. The main village is at Llangwm Uchaf ("Upper Llan ...

, Wales, is a house of late medieval origin with additions from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries. During the early seventeenth century, it was owned by Roger Edwards, a wealthy Midlands merchant and the founder of Usk

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

. Edwards made significant alterations in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

style to the medieval cruck house. By the twentieth century, the house was in ruins until restored by the

Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust The Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust, also known as the Spitalfields Trust, is a British architectural conservation Charitable organization, charity. It originated in the Spitalfields area of London, although it also operates elsewhere in Engla ...

in the early twenty-first century. Now owned by the garden designer Arne Maynard, the house 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 Ir ...

recognising its significance as an "exceptionally important sub-medieval house with ambitious early renaissance additions".

History and architecture

The house was built in the late-medieval period, the first datable reference being an "

ovolo The ovolo or echinus is a convex decorative molding profile used in architectural ornamentation. Its profile is a quarter to a half of a more or less flattened circle. The 1911 edition of ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' says:adapted from Ital. ''u ...

-moulded

mullion window A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

of 1599." This period also saw the construction of the three-storeyed parlour tower. This building was undertaken by Roger Edwards, a cloth merchant from the Midlands, who founded the grammar school at Usk. This phase of construction was investigated by Sir Cyril Fox and

Lord Raglan Baron Raglan, of Raglan in the County of Monmouth, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 20 October 1852 for the military commander Lord FitzRoy Somerset, chiefly remembered as commander of the British troops ...

in their multi-volume study ''

Monmouthshire Houses ''Monmouthshire Houses: A Study of Building Techniques and Smaller House-Plans in the Fifteenth to Seventeenth Centuries'' is a study of buildings within the county of Monmouthshire written by Sir Cyril Fox and Lord Raglan and published by the Na ...

''. Fox and Raglan described the architectural style employed as

, identifying it as a significant development in Monmouthshire

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

architecture. Peter Smith, in his study ''Houses of the Welsh Countryside'', records their view that the construction of the parlour block at Allt-y-Bela "heralded the beginning of the Renaissance in th(e) county". The Monmouthshire author and artist,

Fred Hando Frederick James Hando MBE (23 March 1888 – 17 February 1970) was a Welsh writer, artist and schoolteacher from Newport. He chronicled the history, character and folklore of Monmouthshire, which he also called Gwent, in a series of nearly ...

, visited the house in the early 1950s and described it is his book ''Journeys in Gwent''. Although, in 1951, the house was still habitable, Hando wrote presciently of its coming fate; "Here are ominous signs that unless immediate and drastic action is taken, we shall lose priceless relics." By end of the twentieth century, the house was in a state of advanced decay with the parlour tower having almost completely collapsed. In 2000, the architectural writer John Newman described the house as "miserably derelict." Following compulsory purchase by

Monmouthshire County Council Monmouthshire County Council (or simply Monmouthshire Council) ( cy, Cyngor Sir Fynwy) is the governing body for the Monmouthshire principal area – one of the unitary authorities of Wales. The current unitary authority was created in 1996 a ...

, control of the building passed to the

in 2001. After a large-scale restoration project, jointly funded by the Trust and by Cadw, the fully restored building was sold to the landscape designer Arne Maynard in 2006. It now operates as a

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

and can also be rented in its entirety.

Notes

References

* * * * {{Authority control Grade II* listed buildings in Monmouthshire Country houses in Monmouthshire