Llansantffraed is the smallest
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
in
Monmouthshire,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, located four miles to the west of
Raglan, north of the
A40 between Raglan and
Abergavenny. There is no community, only the Llansantffraed Court estate and the church.
History
Llansantffraed is the smallest parish in
Monmouthshire, covering only 290 acres. It is notable for its church,
St Bride's (or St Bridget's), which is a
Grade II*
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 ...
listed building,
and Llansantffraed Court, the house which forms part of the Llansantffraed Estate. The house was registered as a
Grade II listed building in 2005.
The court was designed by
Fairfax Blomfield Wade-Palmer and C. Frankis in 1912 for a member of the Herbert family, major landowners in the county.
Cadw suggests
Edwin Lutyens' Monkton House
Monkton House in Broughton Gifford, Wiltshire, England is a Grade II* listed 16th-century house.
History
In the 12th century Cluniac monks of the Order of Saint Benedict founded a monastery at Monkton Farleigh, acquiring land in the neighbourh ...
in
Sussex as their inspiration.
The
describes the architecture of the court as "a
Home Counties
The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often included ...
style unusual to Wales".
, writing in his multi-volume ''
'', noted the house as presenting "no particular signs of antiquity, but distinguished by its fine situation". Bradney also recorded the owner at the time of writing (1906) as being Major Edward Herbert,
chief constable of Monmouthshire, and that previous residents had included two
Bishops of Llandaff,
William Van Mildert and
Edward Copleston
Edward Copleston (2 February 177614 October 1849) was an English churchman and academic, Provost of Oriel College, Oxford, from 1814 till 1828 and Bishop of Llandaff from 1827.
Life
Born into an ancient West Country family, Copleston was born ...
. The grounds have an ornamental lake and fountain. Llansantffraed Court operated as a hotel from mid 20th century until November 2019 when it was converted back to a private residence.
The Church of St Bride's
The Church of St Bride's (or St Bridget's) is situated in the grounds of Llansantffraed Court.
Restored in 1858, it consists of a
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ov ...
,
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
, south porch and a western turret containing 2 bells. There are memorials in the chancel to the ancestors of the Jones and Herbert families: there are 55 sittings. In the churchyard is an ancient stone cross. The register dates from the year 1753.
Notes
References
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External links
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{{authority control
Villages in Monmouthshire
Grade II listed buildings in Monmouthshire