Itton Court,

Itton Itton ( cy, Llanddinol), is a small village in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales, in the community of Devauden about north-west of Chepstow. The village covers about a radius, with about 70 properties across a rural area. The parish also include ...

Devauden Devauden ( cy, Y Dyfawden) is a village and community in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. It is located between Chepstow and Monmouth near the top of the Trellech ridge on the B4293 road. The community covers an area of . The community includes th ...

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, wit ...

is a

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 peop ...

. The origin of the house was as an outstation for

Chepstow Castle Chepstow Castle ( cy, Castell Cas-gwent) at Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales is the oldest surviving post-Roman stone fortification in Britain. Located above cliffs on the River Wye, construction began in 1067 under the instruction of the Norman ...

. In the 18th century, much of the medieval manor was pulled down and replaced. Further additions and alterations were made in the 19th and 20th centuries, including work by Guy Dawber. From the 18th until the mid-20th century, the court was the home of the Curre family, major landowners, who purchased the estate in 1749. 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 Ir ...

and its gardens are listed on the

Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales The Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales is a heritage register of significant historic parks and gardens in Wales. It is maintained by Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government. Th ...

History

The original medieval manor was a fortified outstation for

. The gate house, of a 14th-century date is all that remains of the earlier building. In 1749, the court and estate were purchased by the Curre family. The Curres pulled down the remainder of the house, with the exception of a recently constructed wing in the

William and Mary style What later came to be known as the William and Mary style is a furniture design common from 1700 to 1725 in the Netherlands, the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Scotland, Kingdom of Ireland and later, in England's American colonies. It was a t ...

, and built an almost entirely new house in the current Queen Anne style. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Sir Guy Dawber, an architect noted for his

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

work in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of J ...

was employed to undertake significant renovations and rebuilding. His work included a "very grand" billiard room and a long gallery. The house remained the home of the Curres until the death of the last Lady Curre in 1956. It was then sold and was subsequently divided into apartments.

Architecture and description

The building history of the house is "extremely complex." The remnants of the medieval gate tower are mixed with late nineteenth century reconstructions. The architectural historian John Newman considers the East front to be "one of the most distinguished in the county." The house is broadly rectangular, with two storeys and seven bays. The interiors are almost unchanged from their late 19th century designs. The house is a

, recognising its important historical development and its "fine interiors." The park and gardens surrounding the house are registered at Grade II on the

as important survivals with landscaping features from the 17th to the 19th centuries.

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=0140710531 Buildings and structures in Monmouthshire Grade II* listed buildings in Monmouthshire Country houses in Monmouthshire Registered historic parks and gardens in Monmouthshire