Kentchurch Court is a
Grade I 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 ...
stately home
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 peopl ...
east from the village of
Kentchurch
Kentchurch is a small village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. It is located some south-west of Hereford and north-east of Abergavenny, beside the River Monnow and adjoining the boundary between England and Wales. The village name p ...
in
Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
, England.
History
It is the family home of the
Scudamore family
The Scudamore (or de Scudamore) family is an English noble family. The family settled in Herefordshire at two seats, Holme Lacy and Kentchurch Court, before lines moved to Devon, Somerset and Derbyshire. The family first gained prominence in the ...
. Family members included
Sir John Scudamore, who acted as
constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
and
steward of a number of royal
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
s in
south Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
at the start of the 15th century. He secretly married
Alys, one of the daughters of
Owain Glyndŵr
Owain ap Gruffydd (), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr or Glyn Dŵr (, anglicised as Owen Glendower), was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander who led a 15 year long Welsh War of Independence with the aim of ending English rule in Wa ...
, in 1410, and it has been suggested that the couple may have harboured Glyndŵr himself at Kentchurch after his disappearance around 1412, until his death.
BBC: Wales history: The revolt of Owain Glyndŵr
/ref>
Kentchurch Court has been used as a filming location for several films and television series including '' The Vault of Horror'', ''On the Black Hill
''On the Black Hill'' is a novel by Bruce Chatwin published in 1982 and winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for that year. In 1987 it was made into a film, directed by Andrew Grieve.
Plot summary
The novel's setting is the border ...
'' and ''Regency House Party
''Regency House Party'' is a historical reenactment reality television program made by Wall to Wall/Channel 4 in 2004. Narrated by Richard E. Grant, the Regency reenactment is the fourth in a series of historical reality programs produced by ...
''. In 2011, it was the subject of a documentary presented by hotelier Ruth Watson
Ruth (or its variants) may refer to:
Places
France
* Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France
Switzerland
* Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny
United States
* Ruth, Alabama
* Ruth, Ar ...
as part of her ''Country House Rescue
''Country House Rescue'' is an observational documentary series which airs on British terrestrial television channel, Channel 4. The series has also aired on BBC Canada, ABC1 in Australia and Living in New Zealand and in South Africa.
In each ep ...
'' series.
See also
*
* List of country houses in the United Kingdom
This is intended to be as full a list as possible of country houses, castles, palaces, other stately homes, and manor houses in the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands; any architecturally notable building which has served as a residence for ...
References
External links
Kentchurch Court homepage
Country houses in Herefordshire
Grade I listed buildings in Herefordshire
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